


Family and FAS

by kittyface27



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drama, FAS - Freeform, Foster Care, Gen, One Piece - Freeform, child Luffy and Zoro, disability fic, fetal alcohol syndrome, longer fic, lots of medical mumbo jumbo, mental health fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 19:26:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 66,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19257652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittyface27/pseuds/kittyface27
Summary: Zoro has raised his handicapped baby brother for his whole life, alone, having escaped an abusive home. When the siblings find a true home, one they will be with forever, will they be able to help with the complications of their new child's disability, and his brother's mental state?Disability/mental health fic with child Luffy and Zoro.





	1. A Big Brother's Dedication

**So I started this fic over a year ago. It's like my baby. I've worked so hard on it and put so much time, thought and research into it, so I'm nervous about posting it. I really hope it's well-liked since I think there's no other story like this one. Please review.**

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**Disclaimers:**

**1\. In no way do I think that raising a child, especially a handicapped one, is easy. This is just the way Zoro thinks for the plot.**

**2\. All FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) children (and adults) are different, but everything I've made in Luffy's actions and behavior has to do with his disability and is medically accurate, even the medications used later on.**

**3\. I'm not well versed in the foster care system, so some facts might be off, like how quickly a decision is made to adopt a child/children.**

**4\. Includes some past child abuse.**

**5\. Includes intense, but brief, scenes to some.**

**6\. This is a relatively long fic, as it follows years of Luffy and Zoro's growth.**

**7\. Some things that might not make sense at first will be explained later.**

**8\. I completely disregarded anything having to do with school, like I have for some of my other fics. School would get in the way. Please ignore little plot holes like Zoro knowing how to read but never going to school.**

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**Songs: A Million Dreams (the song Zoro sings to Luffy), I Dreamed a Dream, Red Swan, The Name of Love**

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**Anyways, please enjoy~**

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"Do you have experience with a disabled child?"

"No, why?"

"Then you're not right for us. Sorry," Zoro said as he turned Luffy around in his lap, taking his easily lost attention back to Zoro. The couple who was just interacting with the cute toddler looked confused with Zoro. They had been getting along well for the last half hour, and suddenly the foster child turned away from potential adopters. When they tried talking to Zoro again, he completely ignored them and kept his little brother's attention on him. Zoro gave Luffy his worn giraffe stuffed animal and started telling him a story he'd read that Luffy liked to listen to.

The couple gave up after a few moments of trying to get the brothers' attention again. But Zoro ignored them and kept Luffy focused on himself. Luffy popped his thumb in his mouth as he watched Zoro, his gaze straying a bit. But Zoro kept speaking about the magic pony. Once the couple was gone from view, Zoro set Luffy back down on the floor in front of him and built cities with him out of his treasured blocks.

The other foster children stared sadly at the brothers. That's how it went every single time someone paid attention to the two. Zoro let them speak with the two for a while before he suddenly asked whether they had experience with anyone with any type of disabilities. Zoro didn't know what was exactly wrong with Luffy's brain, but he'd always been different, and Zoro knew the cause.

Luffy didn't grow as fast as he should, could barely talk at all and got distracted easily. Not to mention his consistent clumsiness. Zoro always held his hand when they went anywhere. Though Luffy was different, Zoro never saw him as an inconvenience and enjoyed taking care of him, though he knew a professional might be better.

Luffy and Zoro's abusive former mother had been a drunk while she was pregnant with Luffy, which was the cause of his differences, though the little boy had never been tested because he and Zoro bounced from home to home often. The other kids knew Luffy was distracted easily and was clumsy, but they werent around him enough to see just how different he was.

Luffy smiled as he built his block city.

There were only a few things he always paid attention to: The Lion King, and any music. That's why Zoro sang him to sleep, because it was easier to get him asleep when he was focused on something. He'd always had sleeping issues since he was born.

Their parents rarely interacted with Luffy, so Zoro became his parent. He was only ten and Luffy was three. He had been the one to take care of Luffy even when his mom didn't breastfeed him. Zoro refused to let her breastfeed while she was still a drunk, plus, she never offered. So he spent money to buy Luffy all of his necessities. And he stole some of it.

He didn't tell anyone about their home life, and that might have been a mistake, but Zoro was terrified he'd be separated from Luffy. Luffy was all he had. The only good thing he'd had in his life. Luffy  _was_ his life.

Many visitors approached the two, because Luffy was so cute. And the toddler was overly friendly, trusting everyone he met. That's why Zoro kept him close at all times, not to mention for his safety. He'd stumble and fall if he wasn't around anyone to catch him. Zoro was Luffy's caretaker. More than a brother.

Now, Zoro didn't mind their relationship, because he loved Luffy and Luffy loved him. He was Luffy's rock, and sacrificed much for his sake. At their original home, they werent given much food because of the siblings' neglect. Zoro had given a large majority of his own food to Luffy to help him grow, since he just stayed so small. He was almost four, and he was the size of a newly turned three year old.

Zoro had potty trained him, taught him how to walk, and fed and bathed him.

The rest of the day went by slowly.

The couple had left without interacting with the other children. Zoro knew they had a slim chance of getting adopted, but he wouldn't take Luffy to a home that wasn't suited for him. And he refused to be separated from him.

Dinner that night was what Luffy had chosen, so they had pancakes. Luffy always wanted pancakes and was so happy every time they had it. Over all he was a happy kid, grumpy days aside. He just got lost in his thoughts a lot, which made his face relax and he sometimes lost his smile. But Zoro was skilled at making that smile come right back.

Everyone at the dinner table enjoyed having Luffy happy, though it took him a while to finish a meal because he had trouble using the fork correctly. Zoro always cut Luffy's food into bite sized pieces. Luffy even got special treatment when it came to other food. Such as pasta. Dadan, their current foster mother, bought the small kind. The mini butterfly noodles or shell pasta so Luffy could eat it easier.

When Zoro put Luffy to sleep after singing his favorite song, he crawled in next to the boy. They were always the first two to go to bed so the others went to sleep easier without Zoro singing. Everyone made sure to stay quiet to not wake up Luffy, because he had trouble falling back to sleep after waking up. It was how it'd always been. Zoro appreciated the other children being understanding.

Zoro had never told anyone about Luffy being an alcohol baby. It didn't affect them and knowing it would change nothing, so why share something so personal? But even not knowing what exactly was  _different,_ not  _wrong_ , with Luffy, they still were friendly with him, taking time to include the toddler in activities and giving him a handicap.

When they played outside, they tossed Luffy the ball gently, more like rolling it to him. Then they made no reaction that Luffy couldn't throw the ball a long distance and without good aim. They enjoyed hearing Luffy's giggle, the only sound he really made that was his voice, besides the handful of words Zoro had drilled into his mind. Like names and "help", "hungry", "sleepy", "hi", "potty" and "yes" or "no". Those were usually enough words he knew the meaning of to get through the day.

Zoro knew Luffy could understand much of what Zoro was saying, but he couldn't communicate back, only the words Zoro forced him to learn and pronounce correctly.

And if Luffy didn't understand when Zoro was telling him sometimes, just his voice kept the little one's attention a lot of the time. Zoro was an expert when it came to anything Luffy.

The next day, Luffy woke up before Zoro and moved to lay on top of Zoro's chest. Zoro, on instinct, put his hand on Luffy's back to keep him from somehow falling off. Zoro woke up right when Luffy crawled on him. He suddenly started tickling the boy, who erupted into quiet giggles. Luffy knew to be "shhh" when the others were sleeping, so he kept the giggles very quiet.

"Want to go take a bath?" Zoro asked quietly. Luffy nodded and crawled off Zoro to get off their bed. Zoro made sure to help him get down and take new changes of clothes from their shared dresser.

Everyone was still asleep, including the foster mother, so Zoro and Luffy stayed quiet until they closed the bathroom door behind them.

"Want bubbles?" Luffy smiled and nodded.

Soon the tub was full of bubbles and shallow water, surrounding Zoro and Luffy. Zoro made sure no suds got in Luffy's eyes as the little one messily washed his own hair.

A bath in the morning usually made Luffy have a good day. Most days he was happy, but sometimes he was sad and grumpy  _all_  day. Zoro couldn't really do anything about it sometimes, since he knew it wasn't just that Luffy was sad about something. Zoro wished he could help Luffy more than he already could.

The two ate cereal, Luffy actually not making a mess. Zoro praised him and Luffy beamed. So, while they waited for the others to wake and start the day, Zoro set up a movie in the living room that Luffy always loved, one that kept his attention the whole movie, even after seeing it over and over. They watched The Lion King while snacking on Cheerios before everyone ate and came to the living room to do whatever they wanted.

There was another couple coming to visit, and Zoro was tiring of this. Tired of getting Luffy's hopes up and then shutting them down because Zoro didn't see anyone fit. Luffy seemed to like everyone he met, but did not show sadness when they left and didn't come back. But Zoro knew Luffy must know something sad happens when Zoro turns him around and the little one never sees the nice people again. Zoro was so glad Luffy didn't know  _he_  was the reason Zoro would shun the adults.

A tall man with blond hair and a curly eyebrow came into the house with his wife, a red head, both looking happy. Zoro sat with Luffy in his lap as Zoro made his own story to a picture book Luffy liked.

The couple mingled with the children, both open to any age and gender. No one really clicked with them as they worked their way around the room. The two brothers were sitting in a corner, Zoro sitting against a pillow against the wall. He looked up warily at the duo as they came closer. The woman smiled at Luffy who was listening to Zoro talk. Luffy didn't really notice them until Zoro closed the picture book and stopped talking gradually, slowing his words and volume. Slowly adjusting Luffy to something else helped him not be confused.

"Hello," the redhead said. Luffy said, "Hi," with a smile. Every time Luffy spoke, Zoro rewarded him with a kiss on the head, which he knew Luffy liked. Luffy couldn't see the tired frown on Zoro's face behind him. Might as well get the question out already instead of Luffy bonding with them only to be deserted again.

"What's your-" the woman began to say, until Zoro cut her off.

"Do you have any experience with a disabled child?" he asked flatly, the words flowing off his tongue so easily, having been said dozens and dozens of times.

"My sister is. Why?" the red head told him. Zoro relaxed and said nothing, letting Luffy take their attention again.

"Just wondering," Zoro said and watched Luffy interact with them. "Do you wanna play with blocks?" Zoro whispered in his brother's ear. Luffy then pulled his sack of blocks over and invited the couple to play. The woman was enjoying playing with Luffy, while the blond man watched Zoro somewhat suspiciously. But eventually he focused on the little black haired boy.

The kid looked normal enough, but when he stood up from Zoro's lap, he stumbled a bit, but went back to normal when Zoro gently supported his back to stand up straight up again, it made Sanji more suspicious. But he just smiled as his wife played with the child, who had given some blocks to her, the light behind her eyes back after so long of being gone.

"What's your name?" she asked Luffy.

"Luffy," he replied simply. Zoro knew his conversation was now ended since he couldn't speak much more than his name and a greeting here.

"My name is Nami and this is my husband, Sanji. How old are you?" But Luffy just smiled. Zoro scooched forward and whispered "three fingers" and Luffy held up his little fingers. Sanji furrowed his eyebrows at this. Was something wrong with Luffy? "What's your name?" Nami asked Zoro, but Luffy answered with his name again. Zoro smiled at this.

"She was asking me," he whispered in Luffy's ear again. "Zoro," he answered Nami.

"Are you two related?" Zoro nodded and informed her they were brothers. "How old are you?"

"I'm ten," Zoro told her and patted Luffy's shoulder to bring his attention back, since he was now staring out of the window from seeing a bird fly by. "Luffy, play with your blocks," he said gently. Luffy's smile came back and he continued to build things with his blocks like he hadn't been distracted.

"Is there something wrong with him?" Sanji asked Zoro, meaning no offense. But the room went silent. All of the children stopped speaking or making any noise as they watched Zoro scowl, wondering how he'd reply. This didn't go unnoticed by the adults, but Luffy didn't notice the change in the room.

"There's nothing  _wrong_ with Luffy," Zoro snapped harshly. Luffy then turned around to look at Zoro, hearing the anger in his voice. Luffy may not notice change in others' faces and voices, but he did with his brother.

"I didn't mean it negatively. Sorry," Sanji said with a calm voice. But both he and Nami recognized Zoro's voice. Nami had sounded like that when someone asked that kind of question for her sister. "Is there something different about him?" he asked, trying to calm Zoro's obvious anger.

"He's slow. That's all you need to know right now," the green haired ten year old said curtly. When Sanji started to say something, Nami cut him off.

"That's fine," she said, looking pointedly at her husband. She didn't stare or make any move that she heard Zoro tell Luffy to focus on his blocks again after smiling at him kindly. But Luffy was done playing with his blocks and reached to the side to pick up a book he liked from the basket of objects dedicated to the younger kids. The toddler handed the story to Nami and held his stuffed animal as he waited for Nami to read, since when he gave the book to Zoro, he would read the story.

So Nami took the clue and started to read the book, Sanji now sitting next to his wife, smiling at her. Ever since she found out she was infertile, she'd been down. And at each foster home they checked, she never felt like she clicked with any of the children. They had all been somewhat closed off, but Luffy just beamed and was completely open when Nami approached. Even the young children at the other homes had looked at her and Sanji in question at the beginning.

As she read, she could just tell there was something different about the boy. How he lost attention often and stared at nothing, like he was lost in thought, only to come back when Nami raised her voice a bit while she read the story. He didn't understand all of it, but he enjoyed listening to Nami's voice.

Zoro was impressed that Nami was able to bring his attention back by raising her voice a little bit. It was obvious she had encountered someone that wasn't  _normal._  Zoro didn't like the word, but Luffy was not normal.

Sanji stayed back while Nami played and read to Luffy. He was watching the little boy, trying to figure out what was wro-  _different._  Zoro ignored him as he watched Luffy and Nami. His brother seemed pretty infatuated with her already. The little one was usually pleasant with whoever came to play with him, but he'd never had one of the visitors read to him or play with his prized blocks.

Luffy walked the few steps to Zoro and sat in his lap to listen to Nami read and popped his thumb in his mouth. Sanji couldn't help but smile at this; he really was cute.

Luffy began to close his eyes sleepily, but Zoro made sure he stayed awake. He didn't need his sleep schedule messed up. "Luffy, if you sleep now you won't tonight," he said quietly. Luffy opened his eyes wider to stay awake, and frowned when Nami stopped reading.

"Luffy's getting tired. Should we go for today?" she asked Zoro.

"Will you come back?" was his reply.

"Yes." Zoro smiled.

"Then you can leave whenever you want. Just make sure to tell him you're coming back," he told her. Luffy adjusted his giraffe stuffed animal as he got distracted by the window again. No one brought his attention back as Nami and Zoro spoke.

"Sanji, let's go for now," Nami told her husband. They had some talking to do. Sanji nodded and stood up, smiling at Luffy and nodding to Zoro.

"Bye bye, Luffy," Nami said sweetly. "We'll come back tomorrow." When she began to leave, Luffy frowned and tried walking to her, but she continued to walk away. He turned right around when Nami didn't look back and had teary eyes with a deep frown.

"Luffy, they'll be back tomorrow. You don't have to cry," Zoro said kindly. The couple heard this.

"We'll see you tomorrow, okay Luffy?" Nami said as she looked down at him. But Luffy didn't want her to go. She was nice and had a good voice and smile. He walked over to her for a hug, Zoro trailing after him in case he face planted. Nami knelt and hugged him gently. "I will see you tomorrow, okay?" Luffy nodded and waved goodbye happily.

The rest of the day, Luffy was happy, as was Zoro. He felt bad, but at the same time didn't because Zoro was never going to let Luffy go to a new home if he wasn't with him. It just wasn't an option. And he hadn't exactly left a good impression on the couple, but no one was going to say something was wrong with Luffy and not be snapped at. Zoro just wouldn't put up with someone saying that about his brother.

Nami was still grinning when she and Sanji got in their car. They were both silent for a moment.

"Nami…" Sanji began.

"He's so cute and sweet! Oh, I want him!" she gushed, still feeling Luffy's little hug in her arms. Sanji smiled at her, and didnt want to burst her bubble, but there were things that needed to be talked about while she had a level head. Their conversation could wait until they got home and Nami was calm again. Now, she was not calm as she talked about the little one and how sweet he was. Sanji just listened to her and said "I know" or "Mhm" at the right parts.

By the time they got home, she was done gushing and just had a small smile on her face.

"Nami. Luffy obviously has something not right. We don't know what it is," Sanji told her calmly. "Before we even come close to making a decision, we need more information and get to know him better. And I doubt we're going to even get a chance of taking Luffy home without Zoro coming with him."

"I don't mind taking Zoro home, too," Nami said quickly. "We have enough money-"

"Nami, this isn't just about money. We've never had a child before, and adopting two, one with obvious mental issues… it just might be too much to begin with."

"But…"

"We just need to think it over carefully," Sanji said reasonably. "We'll see them again tomorrow, and we can get to know them more and have Zoro tell us what's up." Nami sighed and nodded.

"It's just… none of the kids we've seen so far was so open and happy. And he was sad to see us go," Nami said, a small smile back on her lips.

"Well, you. I didn't even get to visit with him. You hogged him the whole time," Sanji accused.

"You got to talk to Zoro, though," Nami replied. Sanji scoffed at this.

"Yeah I got my head bitten off. That sure is bonding," he said as he rolled his eyes. "I know why he snapped, but it wasn't a very good first impression. For either of us I'd say."

"Don't worry. There's always tomorrow."

**Please review! Aww Zoro is such a loving brother.**


	2. The Second Visit

**Tabletennis: I like to try out lots of different types of fics. I honestly don't remember what inspired this one since I started it over a year ago. It goes more into detail in this chapter and much later ones of how Luffy and Zoro's home life was and how Zoro took care of his brother before they left. He was a damn mature seven year old lol. The power of love though.**

**Kurosaki Shiro: Thank you! I loved your comment! Sadly, it's gotten barely any views on ff.net, so having people comment here makes my heart warm. (3 views today... T-T)**

**beautybydaysi: I hope you continue to enjoy it. :)**

**BlueJackie: Aww thank you! I love Luffy and Zoro's relationship in this one.**

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**Longer chapter here. Enjoy~**

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"You want to look good for Nami and Sanji, right?" Zoro asked Luffy as he tried to brush his hair, but Luffy wasn't having it this morning. Hopefully the bad mood would go away before the couple came back. Zoro knew Luffy didn't mean to be fussy, but it was still frustrating when he didn't do anything he was told or asked to do. Zoro knew just forcing him to do something would hurt his feelings, so he just tried to go with it and treat his mood like a handicap.

"Let's go get some breakfast. I'll ask for Dadan to make pancakes," Zoro tried to bribe him, but Luffy still had a grumpy face. Zoro just sighed and crouched in front of him. "Luffy, what's wrong?" he asked kindly.

"No…" Luffy said sadly, not knowing how to convey what he was thinking. No was the closest thing he could say that had to do with his feelings. Luffy sat down on the floor and curled into a ball. He hoped Nami and Sanji wouldn't walk away and never come back, like all of the others.

"Luffy, they liked you. I'm sure they're gonna come back today," Zoro said gently, guessing on what Luffy was upset about. "Let's go wait for them." Luffy nodded and stood up, taking Zoro's hand with his tiny one. Looked like Zoro was right about what Luffy was sad about.

The day passed slowly while the brothers waited. Luffy was moping the whole time even though he had pancakes. Zoro would be angry if the couple didn't come back, but a little after lunch, there was a knock on the door, opened by Dadan. When Nami came into view in the hall, Luffy gasped and ran over to her, thankfully not tripping. Zoro got up and followed after him, but didn't hold his hand. He was sure Luffy wouldn't want to be babied right now. At least not by Zoro.

"Hi, Luffy!" Nami said happily, with a big smile as she crouched and held her arms out. Zoro smiled in fondness as Luffy hugged Nami. He was worried how Nami and Sanji saying no to him would hurt him, since he'd been upset all morning, thinking they might not come. Luffy had never really clicked with someone else like this besides Zoro. He did his best not to get jealous. At least Luffy's mood went up. Luffy let go of Nami and pointed to her while looking at Zoro.

"I see her. I told you they'd come back," he said gently with a big smile, which Luffy returned. The little one then lead Nami to his books enthusiastically and handed her the same book she'd read to him yesterday. Nami had dog eared the page they left off on and read from there while Luffy sat in front of her and watched her. She gave Luffy a warm fuzzy feeling, like Zoro did.

Sanji watched the scene with a smile, sitting on the carpet next to the ten year old. "Zoro?" he asked but continued to watch his wife and her little ball of joy at the moment.

"Hmm?" Zoro replied.

"Can you tell me what's different about Luffy?" Zoro sighed. It really wouldn't be fair for Luffy to get too attached when the two would just leave after knowing his problems. The ten year old lead Sanji to the other room, only to hear sudden crying. Zoro went back to the room to see Luffy crying while he looked at his brother from across the room.

Zoro hurried over to him. "I'm sorry, Luffy. I won't leave again. I thought you'd be okay with only Nami," Zoro told the little boy gently as he crouched in front of him. Luffy gave him a big hug. "I won't leave again. I'll be right here. I promise." Luffy held out his pinky, which Zoro intertwined with his own. Zoro sat down next to him and handed him his giraffe, putting his arm around Luffy's small shoulders, who was hiccupping. Nami was able to get the little one's attention back and have him listen to her read animatedly.

Sanji had to sit next to Zoro and said nothing, waiting for Zoro to speak to him. "When our mother was pregnant with Luffy, she was a hard core alcoholic. That's why he acts differently," Zoro confessed. "I've basically raised him from a baby. Our parents weren't exactly involved with us."

Sanji sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that. What's been affected by the alcohol?" Sanji asked. Zoro only answered because Sanji sounded genuinely concerned. He, too, did like Luffy. It would be sad if Nami couldn't adopt him because of disabilities that were in no way Luffy's fault.

"He's clumsy and uncoordinated, can't seem to learn how to talk, he has a hard time falling asleep. He's very easily distracted and can get really moody. He won't grow at a normal pace. He's just a bit slow in his thinking a lot of the time," Zoro listed. "That's everything I've noticed so far." He observed Sanji's expression as he spoke. Sanji's frown got deeper as he heard everything about Luffy. It was truly sad. "Tell me. Is there  _any_ chance you two are taking both of us?"

"I don't know. I know Nami wants you two, but we've never had children before, and two is a lot to suddenly start with. Especially with one who's mentally handicapped," Sanji said truthfully. "We can afford it, but neither of us is skilled in parenting yet. But I know, based on what just happened, Luffy can't be without you. Can he?"

"No. He usually gets upset when I'm even out of his view. I thought we could talk in private while he was distracted by Nami, but I was obviously wrong," Zoro told him, sounding immensely guilty. Seeing Luffy cry hurt, and seeing him cry because of Zoro hurt even more. "He's never clicked with someone like this before. He's always been very friendly, but he seems to be infatuated with your wife. And it looks like the feeling is mutual."

"Looks like it." Sanji took a deep breath. "Can I ask you something personal?"

"Doesn't mean I'll answer it, but go ahead," Zoro replied, somewhat suspicious of whatever Sanji was going to ask him.

"How did you raise him? You were seven when he was born. How could a child raise a handicapped baby? I just can't see how it'd be possible." Zoro wasn't sure if he would answer, but Luffy just was so in love with Nami that Zoro would do anything to keep the two together and keep Luffy happy like this. So he'd tell the truth.

"Luffy was born prematurely," Zoro began. "He was very sick for a while. I'm the one who named him. I pretended like our home life was fine, which may have been the wrong thing to do, I don't know. Our mom was still drinking after Luffy was born, and I did a lot of researching and I wouldn't let him breastfeed from her, so I stole or bought formula to keep him alive. I learned everything from the internet, and changed his diapers and became his parent.

"I started noticing things weren't exactly right when he was still under one years old. He couldn't sleep, was often fussy and distant. Always really distracted. Then it was a nightmare teaching him how to walk. He constantly fell down and I had to cover the room in pillows and blankets so he couldn't hurt himself.

"Once he was old enough to not need formula, I shared the food we were given, but I gave most of it to him because I thought he'd grow bigger if he ate more. But he doesnt grow normally. He's almost four, and he's still so tiny…" Zoro said distantly.

"Eventually, an incident happened where we had to leave the house and finally seek police help. Then we were both put in foster care. I never told anyone about his problems, though others can see it. Only a little bit. They never see all of his problems. There's nothing anyone can do about it anyways. Not as of now. So I'll continue to take care of him, and I won't regret it or resent it. Luffy is my life," he finished. Sanji eyed him from the side.

"You know, you really don't sound like a ten year old. I take it more than just taking care of Luffy has hardened you?" Sanji observed, causing Zoro to frown and go back to paying attention to Luffy. He and Sanji had been talking quiet enough so it didn't distract Luffy from hearing his story.

Sanji switched subjects, asking Zoro, "What kind of foods do you two like? I'm a cook."

"Luffy likes snacking on carrots and Cheerios. We've never really snacked on foods much, so that's really all I can tell you," the ten year old replied. "We try and conserve food, even though we're given plenty. We don't waste food." Sanji smiled at this. It was time for  _him_ to tell a personal story.

"When I was a child, me and my guardian were left stranded on an island for a month, with little food. It was only a bag full of perishables. I conserved it for all those days, and even ate the food when it was moldy. We obviously got off, but ever since then, I've never wasted any food, and don't let others when I cook for them. I'll feed anyone who is hungry, regardless of whether they can pay or not. I will never forget the pain of being terribly hungry," Sanji told him. "I try not to have anyone else ever feel that if I can help it." Zoro smiled at this. Sanji seemed like a good guy.

"I never liked people wasting food when I looked in the garbage carts outside. That food could be going to someone who would actually appreciate it," Zoro responded. "Luffy will eat anything, but he loves pancakes and pasta. Preferably butterfly noodles. When he eats, most of the time he makes a mess and I have to wipe his face and hands off because he's not too good at holding forks or spoons. Just a warning if we ever eat meals together."

Luffy interrupted their conversation and Nami's reading by patting Zoro on the knee and pointing to the TV. "Luffy, we just watched it. Don't you want to play with Nami?" Luffy furrowed his small brows and shook his head. "Alright," Zoro caved. Then he addressed the two adults. "Luffy wants to watch The Lion King with you." Nami smiled.

"Is that your favorite?" Nami asked the little one. Luffy nodded with a smile. Zoro always felt it was strange Luffy could understand what others said most of the time but could still not speak back to them. Zoro usually knew what Luffy was trying to communicate from experience and understanding all of Luffy's signs. Then there were moments when Luffy had no idea what was being said to him, like the day before when Luffy had to be told to lift three fingers to show his age.

"I don't have a problem watching it," Nami said sweetly. "I haven't seen it in a long time." Luffy clapped his hands once, happy Nami was going to watch his favorite movie with him.

"Does he understand Mufasa's death?" Sanji asked Zoro quietly as they both stood up.

"No, he doesn't. I think he thinks he is just sleeping. And he doesn't really understand the crying part. If he did, he'd be upset and I wouldn't let him see the movie again. But luckily he doesn't have a clue." Zoro stayed right next to his brother as they all headed to the TV. Some of the other kids sighed. The movie was on all of the time and they'd grown tired of it long ago.

When Luffy was almost to the couch, he stumbled and fell forwards, but Zoro was there and gently caught him under the stomach naturally. Neither one acted like this was surprising. They just kept walking towards the couch, now holding hands. Sanji didn't look surprised either, but Nami did.

"Is he okay?" she asked Zoro, sounding concerned. Zoro picked up Luffy and sat him on the couch in the corner where he liked the nestle in with a blanket on, which Zoro got and put over Luffy with only his arms and head out from under it so he could suck his thumb. Zoro replied as he got the movie set up.

"He's fine. It happens all of the time." Once the movie was set up and running, Zoro asked Luffy if he wanted to sit next to Nami. He nodded with a smile, and Nami sat right next to him. She would watch the movie over and over with him if he wanted. Luffy was just so sweet, even if he did act a bit out of the ordinary. She had had to pull his attention back multiple times while she read to him, but he always focused again with a smile.

"Luffy, I'll be right back. I'm going to get your Cheerios, okay?" Zoro asked him. Luffy nodded okay, making Zoro smile. He left to pour some plain Cheerios into a small bowl and brought it back. "Good job," he told Luffy for him not crying about Zoro going out of his view. Luffy smiled at the praise. Zoro handed Luffy his plastic bowl of cereal and pressed play on the movie, sitting next to Sanji on the floor against the couch.

Luffy pat Nami's arm with his small hand and offered to share his Cheerios with her, who smiled and ate a few pieces from his bowl. Sanji would look up at him sometimes, and was interested that Luffy's attention never strayed from the movie while he either snacked or sucked his thumb.

"This is the only thing that keeps his attention from straying for more than twenty minutes," Zoro told Sanji quietly, noticing his gaze often directed at his little brother.

"Only this movie?" Zoro nodded.

"I think he also likes the music. Did you see his face during the opening?" Zoro asked the man. Sanji nodded with a small smile. Both he and Nami had watched as Luffy's eyes practically sparkled while watching the opening scene. It was very cute. Luffy seemed like a little bundle of joy, though Sanji was told he could be pretty moody. Sanji had looked up symptoms of FAS, and moodiness was one of them. But everyone had their share of moodiness, so Sanji couldn't really see anything wrong with him being occasionally moody.

Sanji was even coming to like Zoro. The kid seemed to treat Sanji as an equal, and if they adopted him and Luffy, he knew, to Zoro, Sanji would never be "daddy". Maybe the cool uncle. Now, Luffy, on the other hand. Well, he could see Luffy calling him daddy, whenever he finally spoke, but only if Nami stopped hogging him. So Sanji would make him some delicious pancakes some time. He was sure he'd be allowed to use the kitchen here since the foster mother seemed to like how the short relationship was going so far.

Zoro paused the movie when Luffy said his name. "Potty," was all Luffy said. Zoro nodded and put him back on the floor and held his hand as they walked into the hall. Nami found Luffy's voice adorable and wished someday he'd use it to call her mommy.

"We'll be right back," Zoro told Nami and Sanji. Luffy was walking quickly. He really had to pee.

Nami sat on the couch with a smile while the two waited. Sanji stood up and sat on the couch next to her.

"I know what's different about Luffy," he said, gaining her attention. "Their mom drank a lot while she was pregnant with him," Sanji told her sadly. Nami's smile was replaced by a scowl.

"How awful," she replied angrily. Then she sighed. "Sanji, I really like Luffy. And you seem to like Zoro. Now that we know what's different, we can be better prepared. What are his symptoms? Did Zoro tell you?" she asked, her anger gone, now replaced with sadness at the thought of not adopting the brothers.

"Clumsy, easily distracted, moody, not able to speak, terrible at falling to sleep, slow sometimes and he isn't growing at a normal pace. There could be more health problems wrong with him that Zoro doesn't know about, Nami."

"And? We'll help him. It's not like we're dirt poor and can't afford a doctor. I just… he's what I imagined when I thought I could get pregnant," she told him quietly. "I don't mind having anything not normal about him. And Zoro seems to have been taking care of him and he's only ten."

"He was seven when he started raising Luffy. He's basically Luffy's parent," Sanji said.

"If a seven year old can raise a handicapped baby, then why can't we?" she asked sharply. Sanji had just given her powerful ammo for her point. This made her husband sigh.

"I just don't want either of us to get hurt if something goes very wrong," he said, thinking more about Nami than both of them. When Nami had a hard expression while looking at him, he finally said, "Let's just have more visits before we make up our minds."

"My mind is already made up, Sanji."

"Nami, we just met-"

"We're back," Zoro said as Luffy walked back quickly, making Zoro have to speed up to stay at pace with the little one. Zoro picked up Luffy when he lifted his arms in front of the couch. But when Luffy got set down he walked precariously closer to Nami and patted her lap. She set both arms on either side of her so Luffy could climb onto her legs. Zoro sat down next to him and Nami, Sanji on the other side.

"Ready to watch again?" Zoro asked, playing the movie when Luffy nodded. Nami looked at Luffy with such love. She was telling Sanji the truth when they decided to try that she imagined a Luffy. He didn't look like the little one did in her head, and she didn't imagine her baby having some sort of handicap. But Luffy's smile was the smile she'd seen in her head. The eagerness in his eyes when he saw her and his tight hugs.

She hesitantly wrapped her hands around his tiny body, not wanting to upset him, but he made no move to stop her. Sanji closed his eyes momentarily watching the two with a sigh, then looked back to watch the movie.

Zoro didn't miss this. He could guess what Sanji and Nami had been talking about while Luffy and Zoro were gone. Based on what Sanji had told him earlier, Nami wanted the two of them, and Sanji wasn't sure. But Zoro could see the trace of defeat when the man looked away and back to the movie that was almost over.

A bit before the movie ended, Sanji got up to talk to Dadan about cooking for Luffy. When he left the couch, Luffy watched him leave with a frown. Where was the nice man going? Nami saw Luffy's confused face, but he quickly brought his attention back to his favorite movie. Zoro also watched Luffy's reaction. The little one obviously liked Sanji, too, even though they hadnt interacted with each other at all yet.

Dadan told Sanji he was free to use the kitchen, and was given the same warning Zoro had given him about Luffy's eating habits. How messy he was. But Sanji knew it wouldn't be a problem because they had been planning on having a baby after all, and a baby is messy when it eats. So it would be ridiculous for Sanji to get irritated with the boy.

He had done more research on his phone earlier, and knew Luffy was probably developmentally delayed not just for his body. He didn't behave like a four year old should, since he was told Luffy was close to his birthday. He still behaved like a young toddler. But Luffy couldn't do anything about it, even if he knew what was different about himself, so there was no use thinking too much about it.

Sanji told Nami he was going to the store to get ingredients. Zoro asked Luffy if he wanted pancakes, to which his eyes lit up and he nodded. "Do you want chocolate in your pancakes?" Zoro asked after Sanji requested he did so. Luffy looked confused. Chocolate in pancakes? Instead of repeating the question, Zoro told Sanji he should make Luffy a sample when he got back. Luffy still looked at him, confused as to why his brother wasn't explaining.

"It's a surprise Luffy," Zoro whispered, like it was their secret though the two adults could hear them. Luffy nodded. Usually surprises were nice, like when he was given a bowl of ice cream, or when Zoro set up a big bubble bath for him where Luffy could get lost in the foam. Dadan had gotten mad at Zoro after that mess, so that was a one time surprise that wouldn't be happening again.

Sanji left just as the movie finished and Luffy stretched, he climbed off of Nami's lap and was ready for Zoro to put him back on the floor.

"Do you want to watch another movie while we wait for Sanji?" Zoro asked his brother. Luffy nodded. He liked sitting with both Nami and Zoro. The older brother pulled out a bunch of movie cases and told Luffy to pick. He chose How to Train Your Dragon and reached for Zoro's hand while he walked the few feet back to the TV stand. "Do you want to be in my lap?" Zoro questioned, to which Luffy nodded and Zoro sat cross legged on the carpet, giving Luffy the space to plop down in the empty hollow between Zoro's folded legs.

The movie began, and whenever Luffy's attention strayed, Zoro would whisper, "Look, a dragon!" in Luffy's ear. It worked every time, even when there was no dragon on the screen at the moment. Luffy really liked the music in this movie as well, though it was much more different than The Lion King.

Sanji shopped for ingredients for the best pancakes he could make Luffy. He was slightly irritated with Nami and how she didn't even consider his opinion in it, which was a bit unfair since Sanji would be the father after all. It was supposed to be a decision both agreed on. Luffy was cute and sweet and Nami loved him already, but he was worried about what would happen if Luffy came home with them. He couldn't really see a problem with Zoro, though he had a bit of an attitude. But he seemed very mature.

But no one knew how Luffy would react going some place different and around others besides his brother. He also didn't want to get attached to a child only to have him develop more and more health problems all because his birth mother drank while the bitch was pregnant with her son.

But Sanji had a feeling no one wanted to adopt Luffy. Well, not when they knew. From the question Zoro had sprung on them the moment they met, and his tired face, they'd probably never been approached with anyone with experience. And who would adopt a child with mental and physical problems with no experience?

Plus, Luffy seemed to need supervision every moment he does something. He knew Zoro did that, but he didn't have other things that are necessary to be an adult.

It's not that he dislikes the little boy, it's just that he doesn't want extra burdens on their first child. For Nami's sake. But who knows if they could have had a baby with problems? They couldn't exactly just leave their baby even if it had a mental problem... He was very torn.

Meanwhile at the foster home, Luffy had needed a break from Nami. Zoro had assured the woman it wasn't personal, and after doing things for a while, Luffy retreated to Zoro's lap to read picture books for the little one. It was a routine occurrence, and if Luffy didn't get his break when he needed it, he'd go into a sour mood, and Zoro didn't want Nami or Sanji to see Luffy upset yet.

Nami had agreed and just watched the two from the couch with a smile. If she was able to adopt them, she wished that she could do what Zoro was doing. But Nami wasn't going to rush with the affection with Luffy, since she had a feeling he'd be overwhelmed by too much physical contact with a near stranger. And then she got to thinking that they might be going too fast. Just because Luffy was super happy and affectionate with Nami didn't mean he wanted to spend every moment of every day with her, regardless of whether he gets sad when she leaves.

When Sanji came back with a couple bags of groceries, Nami was sitting on the couch, now on her phone. He went to the kitchen to put the ingredients in the fridge if they needed to and walked back to his wife.

"What are you doing over here?" he asked. Nami just smiled and informed him that Luffy had needed a break. Sanji frowned.

"It's fine, Sanji. You said it earlier. We just met. Maybe… we're going too fast after all. I don't mean I don't want them, it's just I want to be gradual with Luffy. I don't want him to be overwhelmed by us coming over every single day."

"Nami, I don't want to burst your bubble, but we aren't adopting cats here. They have a choice to come with us or not. Luffy really likes you, but Zoro said he's been friendly with everyone that visits. You might just be another friend he found and enjoys playing with. I really don't want you to get your hopes up," Sanji told her gently, causing her to wear a hurt frown. "Zoro says Luffy is infatuated with you, but Luffy's way of thinking is different than ours, or anyone else without a mental issue." He sighed at Nami saddened face and kissed her forehead. "I'm going to ask if he wants pancakes." Sani then walked to the brothers and crouched in front of them.

"Hi, Luffy. Do you want some pancakes," when Luffy didn't answer, he just stared at the picture book with a frown.

"He needs his break to be a bit longer," Zoro explained about his brother. "Luffy, after your break, do you want some fluffy pancakes?" he whispered in his ear. To this, Luffy responded with a vigorous nod of his head.

"Pancakes it is," Sanji said with a soft smile to Luffy, but the little one had already looked back to his picture book as Zoro began to read again. Luffy then put his giraffe down and reached over to his box of toys, Zoro supporting his torso as he did so, and pulled out his pink fluffy pom pom he liked to hold sometimes.

As Luffy took his long break, around twenty minutes, Nami was looking at furniture for their room (if they were adopted) on her phone, while Sanji was looking at something much darker. He was researching symptoms of Luffy's disorder, and as he looked, he got more uneasy every article he read. So many things could go wrong throughout Luffy's whole life.

When he looked over the couch to Luffy sitting in Zoro's lap, looking at the picture book but with a far away look, he felt pity for him. But he'd never want to adopt because of pity. Luffy reacting to his cooking would be a defining moment.

Luffy and Zoro walked back to the couch after Luffy finished his break, still holding his fluffy pom pom in his small hands. He smiled after he saw Nami and Sanji on the couch and remembered the tall man would make pancakes. But then he got distracted momentarily from something outside. Zoro walked behind him and whispered, "Pancakes, Luffy," gaining his attention and his walking to Sanji. He patted his leg and lead him to the kitchen. Sanji gave a small smile and followed the little one as he held his hand so he wouldn't trip over his own feet.

Luffy was sat on his bigger high chair that he had to sit in because he got unbalanced on regular chairs and watched Sanji cook.

"Luffy, remember this?" Zoro asked as he held a chocolate chip in his fingers. Luffy furrowed his brows. He'd only seen chocolate in squares or bars. "Here, taste it."

Luffy took the small chocolate and ate it. Luffy recognized the taste. "Chocolate, right?" Zoro questioned gently. Luffy nodded. It tasted good. "There's going to be chocolate in your pancake, okay? Do you want to try that?" Luffy was still confused. "I'll show you, okay?" Zoro asked kindly. Luffy nodded. Luffy was being slow again, but Zoro had expected it. He was always confused about new things, even though it should be obvious what Zoro was telling him.

When he and Luffy would get adopted, he knew the first few days would be very scary for him. Zoro would probably end up carrying him everywhere, since that was what happened at every new foster home they were sent to. It was always really sad when Luffy woke up in the morning curled up in a ball, scared of the unknown, sometimes crying. He would cling to Zoro like a baby monkey, since the only thing that was he was familiar with was his brother.

When the sample pancake was made and given to Luffy, Zoro cut the pancakes into little bite sized pieces and gave Luffy his plastic fork with no sharp edges.

"Okay, Luffy. Do you see the brown stuff? That's the chocolate. Okay? It's okay if you don't like it, but try to not to make a mess," Zoro said with a reassuring smile and touched Luffy's hair. He and the two adults watched Luffy stab one of the pieces with his blunt edged fork and stared at it, his hands shaking a bit like usual. He ate it and looked blank as he processed the new food, knowing pancakes don't usually taste like this. But then Luffy smiled a big smile. It was really good!

"Did you like it?" Nami asked. Luffy smiled at her and nodded. "Sanji made it," she said and pointed to her husband. The little one look to him and clapped his hands twice, then went back to eating the little pieces of his pancake.

Sanji gave a small smile. Finally Luffy acknowledged him. He had been a bit sad about how confused Luffy was and seemed a bit frightened at first, but at least now he likes the pancakes. So Sanji turned back to the stove and made bite sized pancakes with chocolate chips in them. It was only a few moments later when he looked back to Luffy to see he'd eaten all of the food already, and had smudges of chocolate on the corners of his mouth.

When Zoro saw Sanji's confused face, he said, "His stomach is a bottomless pit when he likes something." He then turned the Luffy. "More?" Luffy vigorously nodded his head. Sanji took his plate and put the mini pancakes onto it and served it back to him.

"Can you get a sippy cup for him from the cupboard?" Zoro asked Nami. "And put some juice in it from the fridge?"

Soon Luffy had his juice, but wasn't doing anything with his food, he just looked at Zoro, waiting for his brother to cut them up. "They're already small, Luffy. Do you want them smaller?" But Luffy looked back to his food and noticed the pieces  _were_ already small. So he ate happily for the last fifteen minutes, impressing Sanji and weirding out Nami that he could eat so much while still being so small.

"I thought you said you two don't eat much," Sanji said to Zoro, who was watching Luffy in case he choked.

"Pancakes are the exception."

Luffy ate happily and when he was done, Zoro wiped the chocolate off of his face and small hands. It was getting late, and Luffy had just had an early dinner. He was stuffed and couldn't eat anymore. When he yawned, and every realized it was now late afternoon, Nami and Sanji were ready to go for today.

Nami asked Luffy if he wanted to see them again, and of course he nodded, making Nami smile. "Okay, then. I'll see you tomorrow Luffy," she said and gave him a gentle hug while he was still in his special chair.

"Bye, Zoro," Sanji said as Nami nodded to Zoro as goodbye.

"See ya."

Luffy had no trouble falling asleep that night. He was exhausted from so much socializing. So the two went to bed relatively early, even for them. Zoro wasn't tired but he wasn't going to pass up the chance of Luffy having a great night's sleep. However, the abundance of sleep couldnt get rid of his fussy mood the next day.

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 **Cliff hanger!**   **sorta.**

**Disclaimer: I know it must take time to choose to adopt any child, and Nami is going very fast. I just didn't have the energy to add in months of more wondering and deciding because then the fic would be a crap ton longer and it's already almost at 70,000 words.**

**Anyways, please review/comment!**


	3. Fussy Days and Big Mistakes

**TitaniaSarys: Thank you! That's the best comment I've ever woken up to! I'm really hoping people find it original. Hopefully there's no fic like this hiding somewhere online.**

**beautybydaysi: Okay, good! I want to make things as realistic as possible in most aspects.**

**BlueJackie: There's even more cuteness on the way. In a couple chapters it will be Luffy's birthday, so expect some adorableness.**

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**Uh, oh. Luffy's first fussy day. What will Nami and Sanji think? Some angst involved. Enjoy~**

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When Luffy woke up, he was frowning deeply. He didn't really have a reason to be grumpy, but he just was. It happened at least once every couple weeks, since Zoro could usually calm his fussiness when it began. But on days where he  _woke up_  upset, Zoro couldn't fend off his sourness.

Zoro looked to his side to see Luffy curled up facing him with a pout, looking distant. "Are you okay?" Zoro asked him quietly, since the others were all asleep. Luffy frowned deeper and turned away from him. Zoro gave a sigh. He couldn't exactly sing the song Luffy liked to hear when all the other children were still sleeping. So he waited with Luffy on his side, running his fingers through Luffy's hair gently.

Zoro was thankful Luffy wasn't mad at  _him_ , just in a bad mood over all. Zoro stayed with him all day on these days, like usual, only that they stayed in bed for most of it. Dadan brought them food for meals in their room because no one liked Luffy's crying when he was forced to leave the bed except to go potty.

When the others woke up, Zoro asked them to bring in Dadan, and that Luffy didn't feel good, which was code for he was being fussy. The others looked at Luffy sadly and agreed. Once they filed out, Zoro asked Luffy if he wanted to see Nami and Sanji today, but Luffy just made a huff noise and pulled his blanket over his face.

"I guess not," Zoro sighed quietly. Zoro moved his fingers to make comforting circles on Luffy's blanket covered back. "I love you, Luffy," Zoro said. He knew Luffy sometimes didn't know why he was angry, just that he was, and when he was out of the mood, he looked sad. Zoro for once didn't know why he was sad after all. He may feel guilty, or it's just another thing with his different brain that did this. He just wanted to make Luffy sure Zoro was never mad at him for this bad attitude. "It's okay to be in a bad mood. I'm not mad."

Then Dadan came in quietly and went to the side of the bunk that Luffy wasn't on. "Another fussy mood?" she asked Zoro. He just nodded.

"Please tell Nami and Sanji to not come over today," he said quietly. When Dadan asked what she should say the reason was, Zoro told her to just say the truth. That Luffy was in a bad mood, and doesn't want to see anyone else or leave the room all day.

"Alright. You want me to bring food?" she asked Zoro. The ten year old was grateful Dadan seemed to respect the fact that Luffy had bad days sometimes. She never told Zoro, but she knew what was wrong with the little one. The internet is helpful after all.

"In a little bit," he replied as Luffy put his little pillow over his ear. Dadan agreed and left the room, closing the door behind her. "Do you want your song, Luffy?" Zoro asked his brother gently. Luffy nodded his head.

The song was from a movie Zoro had not allowed Luffy to watch when the other kids had. It was too violent for Zoro's liking. But Luffy had heard the opening song, and really liked it, so Zoro had memorized it for him.

" _I close my eyes, and I can see_ _, the world that's waiting up for me, that I call my own…"_

Luffy's body relaxed and he moved his pillow from on top of his ear to holding it to his chest as he listened to Zoro sing.

"... _Cause every night I lie in bed, The brightest colors fill my head. A million dreams are keeping me awake…"_

Luffy then rolled over and hugged Zoro's chest while he sang the song over and over until Luffy wanted another one.

The phone rang while Nami and Sanji were eating breakfast. They were planning on visiting a bit after noon. Sanji picked it up and said, "Hello?" He recognized the foster mother's voice.

" _You two shouldn't come over today. Luffy is in one of his infamous fussy moods,"_ Dadan explained somewhat shortly.

Sanji turned the phone on speaker mode. "We can't help at all?" Nami asked her sadly. She wanted to see Luffy and Zoro again today… She and Sanji had bought a preset for Luffy.

" _No. He refuses to leave his bed all day except to use the bathroom and only likes and tolerates being with Zoro in the same room. I'm sure you two wouldn't want to see him grumpy yet in the first place."_  Then she paused, and before the couple could respond, she said, " _Has Zoro told you about Luffy yet?"_  She sounded harsh and very serious. She didn't want the brothers, especially Luffy, to be abandoned after getting close to the couple.

"Yeah. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome," Sanji replied sadly.

" _And you still want to see him more?"_

"Yes," Nami said seriously. "I have a disabled sister and Sanji and I have done our research. Luffy and Zoro are good kids, it's just Luffy has a problem on the side. We are not just going to ditch them because of something Luffy can't control."

Dadan smiled on the other line. She wanted to warn them ahead of time what Luffy would do if this couple  _did_ adopt the brothers. " _If you adopt them, I hope you're prepared for the nightmare moving Luffy is gonna be in the beginning. I just don't want you two having second thoughts when it's too late,"_  she explained.

"Wait, we don't know if we're going to adopt them yet," Sanji told the foster mother quickly. Nami frowned at him, but didn't disagree. "You're going too fast."

" _You better decide before the boys become too attached to you. And I mean soon. For Luffy's sake most of all,"_  Dadan told the couple. " _Reschedule to come tomorrow if you want,"_ and she then hung up the phone. Sanji turned to Nami with a frown and a sigh.

"Do you really not want them?" Nami asked sadly. Her husband just looked uncomfortable. "Please be honest."

"I'm- I just don't know. I'm worried about you the most. To lose a child would crush you. And me, but I know it would kill you. And to see your child in constant pain and visiting doctors over and over with no cure… But I know that would kill me too. I don't know if we're ready to choose yet. Can we try some other houses before we decide to adopt them or not?"

"We don't know Luffy would be so unhealthy, Sanji. I… I want a child now. But you are my husband, and I won't force a child on you that you don't love. That would be terrible. It would ruin our marriage and be awful for the child to live with a 'father' that never wanted them," Nami told him. Sani cringed, thinking of his own childhood. He knew what it felt like, to not be loved or wanted by your father. He wouldn't put that upon anyone, even his most hated enemies.

"I will go to other homes with you. And I will do my best not to have a closed mind about it, even if I'm dead set on who I want," Nami told him kindly. "I don't want to hurt you. There are many children in the world, but there's only one of you."

"I promise I won't close my mind about Luffy and Zoro," Sanji responded as he sat on a chair next to her on the dining table. "I won't force a child on you that you don't want either. And… if we can't choose someone who we both want… then we will just have to look in a couple years. We're only 24 and 25 after all."

Nami gave him a warm smile. "Can we look for younger ones? After meeting Luffy… I just want little hugs and to hold my child. I want to teach them how to speak and spoil them with all my heart. Is that okay? I wanted a baby, and if we cant have one ourselves, I want another little someone."

"Sure. And I want to be the first to cook them certain foods. Of course, then they'll have high expectations for other food the rest of their lives," Sanji said with a smile.

"I definitely didn't marry you for your humble side." Then her face fell. "I'm sorry I can't bear us a child." Sanji took her hand and wiped away one of her tears with his other.

"I do not blame you," he told her as he cupped her face in his hands. "And look at it this way: we're helping someone who has no one. We'll be saving someone from loneliness and giving them a life. A lot of women can bear a child, but they wouldn't be saving someone already born." Nami smiled and nodded.

"Should we keep visiting Luffy and Zoro while we look at other houses? Dadan was right. We cant let them get their hopes too high if there's a chance we won't be taking them home," Nami said.

The next day, Luffy was thankfully back to his chipper self. They had gotten up very early because Luffy had a lot of sleep yesterday since that's what he did for a while after Zoro's singing.

They now sat together on the couch while they watched the Sunday morning cartoons. Zoro couldn't tell if Luffy was focused on the cartoons or something else, but there was no need for him to focus at the moment anyways. There was no one that Zoro wanted Luffy to direct his attention to, since Nami and Sanji werent coming over today.

Zoro had asked what Luffy thought about them, and all he could do was wear a big smile. Zoro wasn't sure how he felt about this. He didn't know what Luffy thought Nami and Sanji were there for. For all he knew, Luffy could just see them as some new friends. For now, that was what Zoro hoped for. He didn't want Luffy to start naturally thinking of Nami like a mommy for him.

He was concerned about what the couple thought when they were told not to come visit because Luffy was grumpy all day. He was especially concerned about what Sanji thought, since he's the one who really wasn't sure. Zoro had a feeling that Sanji didn't want a disabled child. If so, then Zoro was disappointed in and angry with him. He wasn't personally offended for himself, that Sanji didn't want him as well. He would be offended for Luffy's sake. Zoro was seven when he assumed the parent role of a disabled baby. Sanji was in his mid twenties he'd guessed. There would be no excuse for not being able to care for him as an adult.

But if Sanji really did think like that, then Zoro didn't want his little brother anywhere near him. Luffy didn't need to be stared at or treated differently by his own "father". But Zoro knew he was getting ahead of himself. Maybe the two were just busy. Zoro was thankful Luffy wasn't itching to see Nami again. It seemed his grumpy day had dampened the obsession a bit.

Zoro waited by the phone, expecting the couple to call and say they were coming to see him and Luffy. He took the home phone and sat with Luffy on the couch again, both snacking on plain Cheerios. Then the phone rang.

Zoro answered the phone immediately since loud noises often alarmed Luffy momentarily. "Hello?"

"Zoro? Where's Dadan?" Sanji questioned. He sounded uncomfortable.

"Asleep. Me and Luffy woke up before the others. Are you coming over today? Luffy's in a better mood than yesterday," Zoro said, smiling at Luffy as he sucked his thumb while looking at the TV. Zoro wasn't sure if he was actually watching what was happening, or was just spacing out looking while at the TV. But he got his answer when Luffy giggled about the cartoon he was watching.

"Um, we're not gonna go over today," Sanji said awkwardly.

"What's wrong?" Zoro questioned. "Does Nami want to come over?" There was a pause on the other side of the phone. "Sanji?"

"We're going to look at other homes today. But we'll visit soon," he said. Sanji sounded guilty. And he and Nami had gotten along with Luffy well, so why would both of them decide to try somewhere else? He knew Nami wanted them. So it must be because of Sanji that they were looking at other homes.

Zoro would have just said "Okay, fine". But he didn't say that now because he remembered clearly that Sanji said he didn't know if they could handle a disabled child. And he'd understood that reason. Until Luffy fell in love with the two. Not seeing Luffy again would crush him. They were leading Luffy on. Luffy's sense of time was messed up, so three days for Luffy could feel so much longer for him. And he wouldn't know why they stopped visiting. So what would he think?

"...Is it because Luffy has a disability that you're considering looking at other homes?" Zoro asked coldly. His suspicion was confirmed when Sanji said nothing on the other line. That was all the answer he needed and he hung up and turned the phone on silent, tossing it on the other couch and balled his fists in anger. He swallowed and walked back to the couch and picked up Luffy to sit with him chest to chest.

He looked at his baby brother, who was smiling at Zoro happily. Zoro gave him a watery smile. He was doing his best to not cry, but he felt so terrible for Luffy. Was he ever gonna have a family? Would anyone ever want him as he was besides Zoro? Flawed but wonderful? The two had finally seen a flame of hope, and Zoro felt that little flame was just extinguished and had left them in the dark again. He couldn't help a few tears that dripped onto Luffy's forehead. He looked up and frowned. Zoro had never cried in front of him before as long as he could remember. The little one reached up and wiped away the tears with his small, slightly shaking hands.

"I'll always be here for you, Luffy. Even if no one else ever is, I'll be with you forever. I promise," Zoro told him and hugged him tightly. Luffy deserved a family. He had a mother who didn't care if her own baby was going to die and caused him permanent damage, and rarely spoke to her own children. He had a father who looked at Luffy like he was trash every time he saw the little one. A man who kicked two year old Luffy to the floor for an accident. Luffy deserved a home. If he could never have one, then Luffy's home would be wherever he was as long as Zoro was with him.

Luffy just smiled at him, blissfully clueless.

* * *

Sanji stood at the kitchen counter as he called back over and over, but only got the voicemail.

"Fuck!" he shouted angrily and threw the phone at the wall, breaking it. He gritted his teeth and gripped the edge of the granite. What did he just do? Why couldnt he have had a quick repsonse?! But Zoro was right. Sanji didn't want Luffy because he was disabled. It wasn't anything personal, he was worried about Nami… But still, that would count as not wanting Luffy for his differences.

He would never want to say that out loud, because he knew it was wrong and shallow. He didn't want to tell Nami what had done. She'd be so disappointed in him, so he left quickly, telling her on his way out that he was going to be back soon.

"Okaaaaay… Is everything alright?" Nami asked, concerned since she'd heard his exclamation and the noise of something breaking.

"Everything's fine. I'll be back soon," he lied, unable to look her in the eye, so he pretended to focus a great deal on his shoes as he put them on. Then he guiltily sped away, heading for Dadan's house, hoping Zoro would speak to him. But Sanji didn't really know what to say.

When he got to the house and hurried to the front door and knocked on it frantically, Dadan opened it.

"Can I talk to Zoro?" Sanji asked quickly. Dadan stepped out of the house and closed the door behind her.

"Zoro told me not to let you in if you came by." Dadan eyed him suspiciously. "What happened?" she asked shortly. She'd never seen Zoro so upset. Angry and hurt as he walked with Luffy to their room, the laptop under one arm. "Did you say something?"

"I didn't say anything. That's… that's what the problem is. Can I please talk to him?" Sanji practically begged. But Dadan shook her head and sighed.

"Zoro said he'd talk to Nami, but to not allow you to enter the house or go anywhere near Luffy. What is this all about?" Sanji sighed. Now he  _had_ to tell Nami. He hadn't wanted Luffy much, but now that he had no way to see either of them, it made him angry and upset with himself. God, he shouldn't have called in the first place.

"I'm not going to say," Sanji replied awkwardly.

"Then you're not coming in. Call your wife to fix whatever you did that was so bad," Dadan told him and closed the door behind her once again, locking the door for good measure. Sanji ran his hand through his blond hair and stormed back to the car. He couldn't see Nami's face right now, so he called her and explained what had happened and where he was. He hated her silence. That's what Zoro had heard that had made him so upset.

"Come pick me up," she said shortly, hanging up immediately. Sanji looked back at the house once more before he went to pick up his angry wife.

Zoro had put on Teletubbies on Dadan's borrowed laptop for Luffy while he tried to calm his hurt and anger. The front door had opened and no one had entered, so he was right to think it was Sanji. He hoped Nami would scold him at least a little bit. Part of him didn't want Nami to be allowed to see Luffy, but it wasn't fair to her. Well, she might not even come if they are looking somewhere else. Luffy might have been like others. He didn't know how the couple interacted with the kids before their home. For all he knew, they could get close to any kid and then ditch, over and over.

Part of the ten year old knew he was jumping the gun about the abandonment since they'd only met four days ago. But Luffy was special, and semi-rational thoughts didn't exactly happen when it came to his brother's feelings. How Zoro wished Luffy hadn't become so attached to Nami. He hoped when Luffy saw Nami, he wouldn't be so eager to be with her. He'd been fine the last couple days without seeing her. Of course he could have forgotten or just spaced out.

Nami arrived at the house and left the car, leaving Sanji sitting in the driver's seat without saying anything to him. She was upset with him and hoped Zoro wouldn't cut them off because of what Sanji had said. Well, not said. She still wanted Luffy and Zoro. But sadly, Nami would never adopt the two if Sanji saw Luffy's disability as a reason to not take them in. She sighed before she knocked on the door.

Dadan opened it wide and told her to come in and that the boys were in the third room on the left in the hallway. She thanked the foster mother and hurried to the room she was directed to.

When she knocked on the door, Zoro said "Come in" and looked at Nami with a blank face, wondering how she'd cover up what Sanji messed up. Luffy had continued to watch his show as he sucked his thumb until he heard Nami greet Zoro. Like the last time he saw her, Luffy gasped and ran across the bed to her with a smile, his arms wide, obviously wanting a hug. Nami smiled and hugged him back.

"Hi, Luffy," she said kindly. All the while, Zoro was looking at her with a blank face, but also looked like he was challenging her. "Can I sit down?" she asked Zoro, who nodded and closed the laptop. Luffy didn't notice the noise of the show had stopped. He was too busy looking at Nami with a smile.

"Are you here to talk about your judgemental husband?" Zoro asked coldly. Nami sighed.

"Sanji doesn't want L.u.f.f.y because he's worried about me," she said, spelling out Luffy's name so there was little risk of him understanding that he wasn't wanted, not that she knew if he could understand those words in the first place. Zoro said nothing, waiting for her to explain more clearly. "He thinks I'll break if Luffy becomes very sick as he grows up."

"And that possibility isn't worth it to have us?" Zoro asked, holding Luffy's hand when he reached for it.

"To me it is. I'd rather have Luffy with his problems instead of just not having you two at all. I want you two with all of my heart. Sanji is just being overprotective. It's not that he doesn't want you two for your personalities. It's because of me he's not sure if he wants to."

"Or he might not like that Luffy has full days of a fussy mood. That he's inconvenient. That could be it, couldn't it?" Zoro asked, giving Luffy his giraffe he'd brought with him. The little one wrapped his arm around it while he sucked his thumb.

"I don't think that's it. When we were told Luffy was in a bad mood, he didn't complain at all or do anything that suggested that was a reason he isn't sure if he wants to take you two home. Besides, we would have you to help Luffy when he's upset, since you seem to do it very well," Nami said fondly. "It's actually amazing." Luffy was sitting right between them, not focusing on what they were talking about, just staring at the wall with a small content smile around his thumb.

Zoro looked at Luffy with a sad smile. "Luffy deserves a good home. He deserves to have a dad who doesn't look at him like he's trash, and a mom who doesn't try to kill him." Nami frowned deeply at this.

"So do you." Zoro just sighed.

"I don't want to be adopted by someone who has to be convinced to take us in. It's not fair to both of us to be an inconvenience again."

"Zoro, he doesn't not want you two becasue of anything you've done. He's worried about  _me._  When… when I learned I can't have children, it crushed me," Nami confessed. "It felt like I already had a baby who had died. He just doesn't want me to go through that again."

"Luffy's not going to die. If you two arent prepared for him to develop problems, then that's a problem, too. I want you to adopt us because Luffy is so happy and I don't want him to have someone he likes torn away. But I don't want him to turn into a burden you regret having. It's not fair to him and he hasn't done anything to deserve his problems." When Nami just gave a frown and looked down at Luffy and his peaceful smile, she said nothing. "Please go to the other homes and make up your mind. We never know; there might be another person with experience who Luffy loves as well. Someone who would want every part of him." It wasn't a threat, it was just a fact. Nami looked at Luffy, feeling hurt.

"Alright. We won't come back until we have decided. We won't come back at all if we decide against you two," she said, somewhat coldly. Zoro nodded once.

"Nami has to go now, Luffy. Give a bye bye," Zoro said kindly, attracting Luffy's attention away from the wall. He waved at Nami happily, giving a bye bye. Nami smiled back and waved her hand as well.

"Bye, Luffy," Nami said, trying not to cry. That this might be the last time she saw the two. She didn't want it to be at all. Zoro opened the laptop and resumed the Teletubbies for his baby brother.

* * *

 

**At least Luffy doesn't know they are talking about him. Zoro is such a loving brother.**


	4. The Final Decision

####  **beautybydaysi: Thanks for the comment! Oh Sanji. Learn from your mistake. -_-**

* * *

**I really tried my best to make Nami and Sanji's relationship fluffy, but also realistic. I've never been in a relationship, so I hope I did okay on this one! And lots of fluff and cuteness in the later parts of this chapter. Luffy is so cute!**

* * *

As Nami walked out of the house she wiped her eyes. But her face was red, so it was obvious she was trying not to cry. When she entered the car, Sanji saw her face and went to hold her hand, but she slowly pulled it out of his reach.

"Well, we're not allowed to go see them again unless we decide to adopt them. It is the right thing to do. I don't want Luffy to become too attached to be abandoned once we get too close. Zoro told us to go visit other homes and then get back to him. Not in person." She took a deep breath. "Let's make some appointments."

But Nami knew she was getting Zoro and Luffy. She just had to convince Sanji she'd be fine with Luffy. She would be hurt if something happened to him, but she'd rather have him with problems instead of not at all. But she'd pretend for Sanji's sake that she would be considering others.

During the following days, things were back to normal with Luffy. He didn't ask for Nami and Sanji, or was in a fussy mood. Zoro was thankful for his distant thinking for once. He didn't even know if Luffy remembered the nice people who came to visit for a while. Zoro hoped Luffy wasn't  _waiting_ for them to come back. What would he think if they never did? But this was the best for the little one.

Nami and Sanji visited the two homes they hadn't checked out before Dadan's foster home. These two had younger children, to Nami's fake delight. There was a little blond toddler girl who sat in the corner of the room by herself in the first home. There was no big sibling with her. She was playing with two Barbies. For some reason, Nami didn't like the Barbies. Blocks were better. When she went over, Sanji was behind her again, like all of the other foster homes.

"Hi. What's your name?" Nami asked kindly. She was doing her best to humor Sanji.

"Lilly," the girl said and went back to her dolls.

"Do your Barbies have names?" Nami questioned and sat in front of her. The little girl looked up and told her neither of them have names. Nami then asked if she could play with her, but the girl shut her down by telling her the dolls were  _hers._ Nami did her best not to scowl. She could at least let Nami play with her. She also found herself not liking that the little girl could speak. It was a stupid thought, she knew.

When the redhead got up to walk away, she was hoping the toddler would follow her and ask for her to come back and play. But that didn't happen. She knew she was setting her standards to Luffy and that doing that wasn't fair, but she couldn't help it. Nami walked over to Sanji, who was talking to another younger one. This one looked even younger than Luffy, but Luffy was almost four after all, though he was still very slight and didn't act his age.

Sanji was irritated that when he walked up to small the brown haired boy who was on a bean bag chair looking in a picture book with images of animals, who immediately started crying when Sanji got closer.

"Hey, it's okay. I just wanted to say hi," Sanji said softly and with a comforting smile. But the child continued to cry. Another older kid came over in a hurry to cheer the baby up by handing him his stuffed bear and putting the pictures of the animals back in front of his face, blocking Sanji from the now sniffling baby's view. The man sighed and stood up next to Nami, who was frowning a bit.

"I'm guessing you had no luck?" She just shook his head. There weren't any other little kids at this house. They hoped there would be others at the last home they'd be trying. They said goodbye to the foster mother and left. But they just went home, both disappointed.

Nami looked to the side at Sanji, who was driving with a deep frown. Nami hoped he was comparing the kids to Luffy, like she had been doing. She kept her promise of having an open mind of talking to other kids, but when she saw the girl frown at her, she saw Luffy's smile in her mind and was angry at the little girl for being so rude. But she didn't make any expression that could hint at her feelings in that moment.

"Why did that kid just start crying? I didn't even say anything to him!" Sanji ranted.

" _Most_ children are wary of strangers at first," Nami said. Sanji didn't miss the first word and the emphasis she put on it. Sanji ticked his tongue and pulled into their driveway and walked inside with Nami behind him.

Sanji plopped onto the couch, frustrated. Nami felt bad for him. She knew he wanted a kid as badly as she did, and coming near the end with no child he completely clicked with bothered him. Nami felt bad now that she had hogged Luffy and had not let Sanji play with him at all. It had been unfair and actually selfish.

"Maybe we'll have better luck next time," she said gently. "We still have one more place to visit. Don't get so down."

"I'm jealous. You found someone who likes you, and all I've done is make Zoro angry. I feel like a terrible person, keeping the ones you want away. I'm sorry…" he said, sounding mopey. Nami walked around the couch and sat next to him.

"I know why you are against taking in Zoro and Luffy, and I think it's very chivalrous and caring for me. But I told Zoro I'd rather have Luffy with problems instead on neither of them at all. And that's the truth. I can handle it, and I can help him if things get bad. You never know, we might save Luffy's life by adopting them. Not everyone has money to spend on doctor's visits, you know."

Sanji just sighed. "Is there even a point to going to another home? I'm not gonna hurt you by keeping away someone you obviously already love. I liked them too. Just… do you promise me you are telling the truth about not minding Luffy's disability? Or do you just like them so much you are lying?" Sanji asked.

"I promise everything I'm saying is the absolute truth. I won't rush things. For Luffy and Zoro's sake, and ours." Sanji nodded in agreement. "And I think you should go visit by yourself sometimes. Get to know Luffy, since you're already closer to Zoro than I am." But her words made Sanji's face fall.

"It might be hard to live with him when he hates me," he scoffed. "God, I messed up. Did he believe you when you told him I was only thinking about your feelings, not that I hated Luffy because he was different?"

"I'm not sure," Nami sighed. "He was still angry when I left them. But I know how he feels better than anyone. If someone declined friendship of my sister because she is disabled, they would get a lot more than a hung up the phone call." She looked at Sanji sadly for a moment. "I'm sure Zoro will forgive you."

"I hope so. I'm screwed if he's a grudge holder."

"Let's go find out," Nami replied. "I need to call them first." She walked to the home phone that Sanji hadn't destroyed and called the home. Dadan picked up.

"Hello?" she barked. Despite her rudeness, Nami couldn't bring herself to dislike the woman. It was strange.

"Hi, this is Nami. Can I speak to Zoro?" she asked politely. Dadan gruffly said "in a moment".

Zoro was sitting in the kitchen next to Luffy as they ate lunch. Plain pb & j sandwiches, but neither sibling complained. Zoro had secretly watered down the peanut jar a bit so it was less likely Luffy would choke on the stuff stuck to the roof of his mouth. Everyone noticed that it tasted different, but no one knew why and used a newer jar, now making the special one Zoro and Luffy's. Dadan entered and told him Nami was on the phone.

Zoro put Luffy's hand down, telling him to take a break from his food. This was usual. When Zoro wasnt near or was distracted, Luffy wasn't allowed to eat. He hated this at first, but after choking multiple times, some part of him realized he should go slow. And Zoro always did things to help him, so Luffy trusted his brother when he told him to do or not to do something.

The only real time Luffy doesn't do what Zoro says is when he's in his bad moods. But really, all he does is refuse to get off the bed. So it wasn't a big deal. Luffy trusted Zoro for anything. He didn't know it really. It was just how things were and always had been.

"Hello?" Zoro said into the phone.

" _Hey. Can we come over? We decided we're going to see you guys again. But we're going to be slow about this,"_  Nami said over the phone. Zoro smiled a little smile.

"So did you make a decision?" he asked.

" _Yeah. Can we come over and talk?"_

"I'm going to ask Luffy before we talk. See you soon," Zoro said and hung up. He walked back to Luffy and let him resume eating his half a sandwich.

"Luffy, you like Nami and Sanji, right?" Zoro asked clearly and slowly. Luffy looked a little confused. Did he forget them? "Nami and Sanji are the nice people who were visiting with you. The ones you watched The Lion King with. Remember them?" Luffy clicked and nodded as he chewed his food.

"Do you want to live with them? Do you want them to be your mommy and daddy?" Luffy was confused with the words. Mommy sounded like mama, and in the back of his mind, he knew that word was someone who was mean to him. He didn't recognize the word "daddy".

"A good mommy and daddy. Nice ones. Do you want to live with them? Forever?" Luffy was coming to understand what Zoro was telling him. Luffy really did like the nice people and would be happy to be with them. So he nodded his little head. Zoro took a deep breath. "We will have to move again," he told Luffy slowly. Luffy immediately lost his smile and wore a deep frown.

"The last move. No more moves after that," Zoro continued. Luffy lost interest in his food and looked down at his lap.

"No…" the little one said sadly. "No." Zoro took his hand.

"It'll be the last move. And we'll still share a room and a bed. There will be more room to play," (Zoro assumed. He'd never exactly seen Nami and Sanji's house). "I'll be with you the whole time," Zoro said kindly. "The last move ever. I know you can do it."

Luffy's lower lip trembled. Moves were terrifying. Everything was different and he had to get used to the new houses over and over. He hated them and cried a lot when he woke up in an unfamiliar bed.

When Luffy first moved to each foster home, everyone hated him. He cried non-stop. But after he adjusted, everyone came to like him. He wasn't a bother and rarely cried anymore, plus he was adorable, despite the mess he made after meals. The others rarely touched him because Zoro would bite their head off, but he was just so adorable they wanted to hold him. Even though Luffy tripped a lot, he liked walking places more than being carried. He only was carried by Zoro when he was tired or scared.

"We can do it Luffy. Together, like always. Okay?" Zoro asked, giving a gentle smile to make Luffy feel more relaxed. He pouted and looked like he'd cry at any moment, but he just nodded. "Do you not want to finish your sandwich before Nami and Sanji come over?" Luffy shook his head and then got distracted by something that moved outside from the patio door. Zoro didn't bring his attention back to him and just let the little one space out while they waited for the two adults.

Zoro and Luffy were still in the kitchen when Nami and Sanji arrived. Luffy was still spacing out, not really looking at anything in particular. Zoro wondered what he was thinking about.

Luffy smiled when he saw the two walk into the kitchen. "Hi Luffy," Nami said sweetly. Sanji stood there, looking at the tile floor. He took a deep breath and walked to where Zoro was sitting. "I'm sorry," was all he said. "Like Nami told you, it wasn't personal."

"Sure seemed like it," Zoro responded and then sighed. "Just don't say anything like that again. Or don't  _not_ say anything like that again. I know a lot of people don't like disabled people, and I don't want his dad to be one of them." Sanji nodded and replied that he understood. Both Nami and Sanji sat at the table, a big box laying in the middle Sanji had set down. It was covered in wrapping paper.

"This is for Luffy. We don't really know what you're into. So this is a present for stealing my - _our-_  hearts," Nami explained. "Luffy it's a present," Zoro told him. "Be careful when you open it. We don't want a paper cut."

Luffy then clumsily and pathetically tried to unwrap it, but was failing spectacularly. Soon Zoro was helping him. Once that was over, he stared at the big box, with no cover or label on it. It was a surprise! Luffy realized.

Sanji got a pair of scissors from the counter and cut it open, pulling the cardboard flaps away so they could see the inside. Luffy gasped and touched his giant set of different colored blocks. There were thirty separate blocks, all made of smooth, painted wood. Zoro smiled. This was a good present for Luffy. Second to blocks would be picture books and another stuffed animal.

Zoro wished he could get Luffy gifts, but he had no money and couldn't go anywhere. He wondered when Luffy would be ready to go out in public. Nami no doubt will want to dress him up. Hopefully they won't push Luffy to go out to places. But he couldn't see Nami doing something like that.

Luffy pointed to the living room to Zoro, who nodded. "Can someone bring his blocks into the living room?" Zoro asked, moving to pull Luffy out of his special seat and onto the tile. He walked with Luffy ahead of the two adults, Sanji following while easily carrying the big and heavy box.

Luffy immediately sat down in front of his new blocks and started to build all around himself. He was never very good at it since he knocked them down quite often, but he still had fun with it. It was lucky he didn't fall apart every time his "cities" were destroyed. He'd just pause for a short moment and then went back to playing, ignoring what he'd accidentally done.

The three played with Luffy and his new blocks for a while, enjoying Luffy's smile as he played.

"Okay Luffy, look at these pictures," Zoro said kindly. "These pictures are going to be your new home in a couple months." Zoro pulled a photo out of a stack of a living room. The couch was big and an L shape, while there was a smaller couch that one person would fit on diagonal to it. Luffy kept getting distracted since this activity wasn't very engaging.

"Okay, now this will be our room," Zoro explained, speaking louder to get his attention again. He held up a photo of an empty room. It had no furniture yet. The walls were light blue and it had a ceiling fan with the light attached. Luffy's favorite color was purple, but he hoped he'd be fine with blue. Zoro then held up a picture of one of the bathrooms. He was very thankful their house wasn't two stories. He knew, somehow, Luffy would trip on the stairs, even if they had fences on the first step and landing.

"This is our bathroom," Zoro said. "It's a big bathtub, isn't it?" The bath was pretty big. Luffy would like that, and Zoro would have more room to sit with him in it. Luffy opened his mouth and pointed down the hall. Zoro tried not to sigh in irritation. Luffy was just so easily distracted whenever Zoro tried to get him to look at the photos.

And now Luffy wanted a bath, even though they'd had one the day before. But Zoro was never good at telling Luffy no. Luffy didn't throw tantrums but Zoro hated his wobbly lip, thinking he was in trouble, though Zoro had never once raised his voice in a bad way with his small brother.

Zoro put the stack of photos in Luffy's basket and walked with him to the bathroom and gave him a bubble bath, only taking him out once the water was no longer warm. Luckily, when Luffy was covered in his favorite blanket, he paid much more attention to the pictures, which Zoro was thankful for.

Nami had already decided she wanted the brothers very quickly, and Sanji had started to like the two quite a bit as well. The real deal breaker with Luffy was when Sanji gave him a bag of toy food and cups and Luffy stacked patties together as pancakes and handed them to Sanji. Then Sanji helped him pretend to cook. He was just so sweet and cute. And he had already liked Zoro from the second visit. When the whole thing about the phone call passed, Zoro talked to him while Nami often focused on little Luffy.

They were a bit irritated it would take so long to take them home, and both adults knew Zoro felt they were going to change their minds. Seeing this, Sanji assured him that the two would not change their minds. That they were dead set on being Zoro and Luffy's parents. Not those abusive people who wouldn't even take care of their baby. That would drink while pregnant to try and abort by herself. Zoro had confessed that terrible fact that made Sanji seeth like he hadnt in a very long time.

A couple months later, Luffy's birthday came. Zoro woke up with Luffy and smiled at him. Once Luffy woke up and yawned around his thumb, rolling over and giving Zoro his good morning hug.

"Happy birthday, Luffy," Zoro said with a smile. "How old are you today?" Zoro questioned. Luffy lifted three fingers. "How old are you if today is your birthday?" Zoro asked. Luffy was confused. Zoro put up his fingers. "One," he said and lifted a finger, "Two, three..?" he prompted and lifted one more finger. Luffy changed his fingers to four. "Good job! You're four!"

Zoro always loved Luffy's birthdays because it meant Luffy had made it another year. He was always so scared there would be something wrong with Luffy that they didn't know and he'd get sick and Zoro wouldn't be able to help.

Everyone in the foster home made him a surprise party, though it really wasn't a surprise since Zoro told Luffy beforehand. The little one might get scared from the shouts of "happy birthday!". So when the brothers walked down the hallway and into the kitchen, Luffy was ready for the loud noises.

The moment they reached the kitchen, Luffy was bombarded with loud exclaims congratulating him for his birthday. He was now four years old, but definitely didn't look it. Over the past couple months since Zoro and Luffy met their future parents, he had grown very little. Maybe a couple centimeters taller than before.

Luffy got one gift from everyone, which Dadan went and bought, that was a soft stuffed panda. He was very happy and dragged it around with him as he smiled and walked to his seat at the table. The panda was a bit big for him, mostly for him to cuddle with or sit against. He would probably bring his giraffe with him around the house and save his new stuffed friend for sleepy time.

Zoro lifted Luffy onto his chair and the little boy beamed at his small stack of chocolate chip pancakes with a candle shoved at the top. The candle was in the shape of a number 4, and was lit by Dadan, who was uncharacteristically smiling at the youngest resident.

"Make a wish, Luffy," Zoro said happily, standing next to him, ready to catch him if he falls forward when he leaned forward to blow the flame out. Zoro was curious about what Luffy wished for.

Breakfast was a happy event for Luffy, and everyone enjoyed seeing his adorable grin as he ate his pancakes after Zoro cut them up and was smiled at by all of his foster siblings.

His party was everyone watching the Lion King with him in the dark with bags of popcorn. Luffy had never been to a movie theater, but that was what everyone was aiming to be like. No one even said anything when the birthday boy wanted to watch it a second time.

Nami knocked on the door, Sanji behind her with Luffy's bag of presents. Neither of them could really believe that tiny boy was now four. And he hadn't learned a real word since they met him. They knew Zoro tried to coach him into saying simple words that would turn into simple sentences, but Luffy either got distracted often or just didn't really understand what he was supposed to do. Or Zoro just wasn't teaching him in the right way. He'd only learned his handful of necessary words by Zoro constantly repeating them every time one of them came up.

When he taught Luffy how to say "potty", he had gone into the bathroom with his brother and just repeated the word the entire time the two were in the small room. That was the first word Luffy learned and understood how to say. Even before his own name. Then, Zoro had done the same thing before when he taught Luffy how to say "hungry".

Zoro was actually really waiting for when he and Luffy moved to Nami and Sanji's house. Then he'd have two other people to help him with Luffy's very limited vocabulary.

When Dadan let the couple in, they smiled at the dark room playing The Lion King. Luffy was sitting in his corner on the couch happily sucking his thumb, the other arm wrapped around a big stuffed panda that was smiling down at him.

When Zoro heard the knock on the door, he took the remote and paused the movie. Luffy gave a sad face when the movie stopped and looked to Zoro in confusion.

"Luffy, Nami and Sanji are here," he said kindly. "I think they have presents, too," Zoro added. Luffy beamed and stood up on the couch to look over the back. He did his usual happy gasp and waved to them. It was obvious he was having a very good day.

The movie was almost over, so Luffy was even more happy when some of the kids left the couch to have Nami and Sanji sit beside him. Zoro sat at his small feet that barely reached the edge of the couch.

After the movie was over and the lights were turned back on, Luffy got a good look at the presents. He wasn't really one to want material things, and was more than happy to have his little basket of used toys and picture books, but he was excited for something new. He already had a nice big panda, so he wondered what was next. Today was good so far!

Zoro was glad that Nami and Sanji had referenced the last present they got for Luffy and instead of wrapping, they put it in a bag, which would be much easier for Luffy to handle. But there was one box that obviously wasn't a present, as it smelled like chocolate. Zoro knew it was something for Luffy to eat, so he set him down on the floor in front of a placemat Sanji had set down at his feet.

"You probably already made a birthday wish from the pancakes this morning," Nami said happily (Dadan told her and Sanji what had happened before the came), "but here's a chance to make a  _second_ wish."

Luffy gasped at the beautiful chocolate cupcake that was revealed from the box. It had little colorful flowers of frosting on it and had four mini candles stuck into the sweet. Sanji lit the candles using the lighter he kept in his front pocket.

After Luffy blew out candles for a second time that day, he ate the cupcake whole. Well, he tried. He was able to eat most of the frosting, though it was smeared all over his hands and mouth. Then Zoro left to get a washcloth and a knife and Luffy's blunt fork. Zoro wiped his mouth and small hands and then cut up his desert to eat more easily.

Luffy looked at the bags. One was big and semi-thick while the other was very thin.

"Present time, Luffy," Nami said happily and handed him the thin gift bag first. Luffy excitedly dug through the tissue paper and pulled out two picture books. One was  _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_  and the other was  _Corduroy._  Luffy gave a big smile and handed Zoro his new books. He wanted Zoro to read them to him, momentarily forgetting about his second present.

"One more present, Luffy. Then I will read both to you," Zoro told him. Luffy smiled and nodded, turning back to his last present. What he pulled out of the bag was his favorite present that day. A very soft blanket with the characters from his favorite movie. He gasped and showed it to Zoro. Then he got up and went to wander around to everyone and show them his new blanket. Of course Zoro walked with him.

Nami and Sanji watched Luffy walk around with his new blanket with soft, fond smiles. They couldn't wait to bring them home and spoil them with things they'd never had. Nami leaned back against Sanji.

"I'm so glad we came here," she said quietly.

"So am I," Sanji said just as softly and then kissed Nami's head. "I'm glad you chose them."

"And I'm glad you warmed up to them. So, what should we have Luffy call us? Mommy and daddy, or mama and papa/dada?"

Sanji thought for a moment. He'd rather be called daddy, but papa might be easier for Luffy to learn. "Let's talk to Zoro about it before we decide. It might be best for Luffy. I know Zoro won't be calling us mom and dad," Sanji said.

He wasn't particularly bothered by this, and was glad that one of his sons would be responsible and act older than his age, though part of him wished Zoro didn't need to act this grown up. He wondered what else had made Zoro like this. He remembered one of the first conversations they'd had, Zoro said he had to seek police help after an incident. What was the incident? What else went on in their first "home"? He hoped Zoro would tell him some day.

When Luffy and Zoro walked back, Luffy was wrapped in his favorite present and dragged it quite a ways behind him. All the other kids smiled at cute little Luffy and his new blanket.

Luffy sat in front of Zoro and pointed to one of his new picture books. He stuck his thumb in his mouth while still wrapped in his blanket. "Can one of you get his new stuffed panda?" Zoro asked Nami and Sanji.

Sanji got up and brought the plushie from the couch to Luffy, who leaned against it with a smile. He liked all of his new presents. Zoro read him both picture books, seated next to him so his little brother could see the pages. Luffy enjoyed the stories.

After Luffy became distracted with his blocks a while after Zoro had read his new books multiple times, Nami spoke to Zoro.

"We have one more present, though it's not material," she said cheerfully.

"What is it?" Zoro asked as he looked from Luffy to his soon to be adoptive mother.

"It's finalized. You two can come home with us."

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**Next chapter, the boys must face moving to another new home, Luffy** **_especially_ ** **. Review!**


	5. Getting Used to a New Home

**Princess_Meria: Thank you! I hope you look forward to the chapters that aren't fluffy as well.**

**BlueJackie: No spoilers! You'll have to find out at the very last chapter, when an unexpected character arrives.**

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**They finally get to go to their new home! But will it go well? This chapter is shorter than the other ones and less fluffy. It shows Luffy's disablity more. My poor baby, but Zoro's got you! Enjoy~**

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Zoro stood in the entry hall, his hand on Luffy's shoulder and wearing a somewhat thick backpack full of their clothes and Luffy's personal toys. Dadan had Luffy pick one item from the basket that used to be his to keep. He chose the book Nami had first read to him.

Luffy had a deep frown on his face as he looked at everyone saying goodbye to him. He was scared to move. Zoro said he'd be with him through the whole thing, so he was trying in his own way to calm himself down. He was rubbing his small fingers together, a quirk he did whenever he was scared or nervous. Zoro looked down at him and gave a sad look. Luffy wasn't going to be happy for a few days. Nami and Sanji knew about this, though. Dadan and Zoro had told them about his terrible mood when he's introduced to somewhere new.

"Goodbye, Luffy," Dadan said as she crouched in front of him. Luffy waved sadly to her, and then went back to rubbing his fingers together. Everyone was a bit sad to see him go, but they were happy he and Zoro had finally found a home.

Luffy turned around and stared at the front door, which looked huge and scary right now. Out that door is the big, scary world. Big people and loud noises. But Zoro said Luffy would be okay, and he trusted his brother.

Luffy jumped a little when there was a knock on the door. Zoro opened it, still keeping his hand on Luffy to comfort him. Nami and Sanji stood in front of the door, smiling down at Luffy and Zoro. Despite seeing two people he really liked, Luffy was scared. He turned around and held his arms up to Zoro. Zoro tried not to frown and picked him up and carried him to the couples' nice car.

Zoro put Luffy in the new car seat in the backseat and sat next to him. He set Luffy's blanket over him and handed him his stuffed giraffe.

"It'll be okay," Zoro said kindly with a reassuring smile. Luffy stuck his thumb in his mouth, another thing that comforted him when he was upset or scared. The four year old did his best not to cry, but as they got farther from the place he had called home, his lower lip trembled.

Zoro, of course, saw this and began to sing Luffy's song, not caring that other people were listening. He'd told his new parents about the song and how it helped Luffy when he was having a bad day. Thankfully, listening to Zoro sing stopped the oncoming tears from his little brother that would no doubt come later.

The drive wasn't too long, and the whole time, Nami was looking at Luffy in the backseat, saddened by the scared and nervous expression on the usually happy face of her new son. She knew to expect this, and that it would only last a few days, but she wished he would be excited to go to his new forever home.

She and Sanji were also nervous about what Luffy would think of their cat. Zoro had said Luffy had never been around or seen a cat, so he didn't know how the little one would react.

Luffy still clung to his brother while they walked into their new home. Luffy didn't look at anything while he and Zoro were given a tour because his face was buried in Zoro's chest. No one forced him to look, or else it would upset him very much. Luffy didn't like to be forced to do things he was upset about. That was why no one ever tried to get him to leave the room on grumpy days.

Luffy couldn't see the toys for him, like the toy kitchen full of plastic food Sanji had stacked with.

The house was nice and a good size. Not too big but not tiny either. What surprised and pleased Zoro the most were the low railings put on some of the walls to help Luffy walk unassisted by his brother. This made Zoro smile.

The house had three rooms, and Zoro had purposely asked for him and Luffy to have the smallest room. The room was exactly what Zoro had asked for. It had a bunk bed against the wall, and a basket of books similar to the one in his previous home. There was also a cardboard cut out of Mufasa, though it wasn't very large. The mirror closet had curtains over it so it wouldn't confuse Luffy.

Their comforter was purple, Luffy's favorite color. Zoro didn't particularly like it, but Luffy came first in everything. Zoro sat down on their bed, still holding onto Luffy. He rubbed his brother's small back in comforting circles.

"This is our new home, Luffy. I know it's scary right now, but I'm sure you're going to like it here. There are even bean bag chairs. You could get on them yourself," Zoro told him enthusiastically. "Sanji is gonna make lunch. Do you want anything specific?" Zoro asked, though he knew Luffy wouldn't be picky and couldn't say what he wanted in the first place. But this was solved when Sanji came into the room after knocking on the open door.

"I have a picture menu for Luffy," he said nicely. Zoro smiled at him. He seemed to get Luffy pretty well, even though at first he didn't want him at all. He handed Zoro the laminated paper with pictures and descriptions next to them.

"Luffy look," Zoro said. Luffy peeked out at the paper between the space between his arm and torso. The food looked yummy. There was a lot of stuff he'd never tried or even seen. The orange balls looked yummy. He pointed to the picture or the orange chicken.

"It's chicken with orange juice sauce on it," Zoro read the simple lines situated to the right of the photo. "Do you want to try that?" Luffy nodded. But then he went back to hiding his face in Zoro's chest. "Do you want to eat in here?" Luffy gave a small nod and Sanji said he'd bring the food in when it was ready and they could all eat in their new room.

Sanji didn't particularly want messy Luffy to eat in his clean room, but it was what was best for him right now he knew. He'd get a picnic blanket as a placemat.

Nami was sitting on the couch looking sad. "I know it's not personal, so don't try and baby me," she said to Sanji without turning around. She just knew he would come comfort her. She knew Luffy wasn't doing this on purpose, but she had hoped when she adopted a child that they would be excited to go to their new home. Luffy was scared, far from excited.

Sanji didn't reply to her words and just said, "We're having orange chicken and all eating in their new room. Luffy wants to eat in there for now." Nami nodded. "Do you know where Kaya is?" he asked. He hadn't seen their cat since they came home.

"No, I haven't seen her in a while."

Luffy was sitting in Zoro's lap while he read him his new picture books. The little one was wrapped in his blanket and holding his pom pom in his small hands. Zoro didn't really know if he was listening or not, but continued to read. Then there was a sudden and small jolt on their bed. Zoro looked past Luffy and saw a small white cat with a pink nose. He didn't know how Luffy would react to the animal, but he'd get used to her eventually if they were living in the same house together.

Zoro slowed his reading and closed the book. Luffy looked up in confusion, but Zoro just smiled down at him. "Look, Luffy. It's a cat," Zoro told him, turning Luffy around. Luffy tensed at the sight of the unknown creature. Zoro decided to set a good example, since this cat didn't look defensive or angry. Not even scared of the two new humans in her house.

Zoro reached over and let Kaya sniff his hand before petting her soft fur. Luffy opened his mouth in wonder. What was it? He reached out to do the same, and gave a giggle when her wet nose bumped his finger. The cat came closer and sniffed the brothers and before climbing onto the small space between the two. Luffy suddenly looked happy, not scared at the moment.

Zoro moved her collar to see her name was Kaya. "Isn't she pretty?" he asked Luffy. Luffy nodded as he stroked Kaya. Zoro was very happy and relieved that the cat didn't terrify his brother. That would have just made the situation worse.

Zoro resumed the stories while Luffy pet the cat.  _Their_ new cat. Kaya did eventually leave, saddening Luffy. He gave a deep frown and looked at his fingers.

"It's okay, Luffy. She'll come back. We live with her now. She likes us," Zoro told him kindly. Luffy still looked upset, but he understood what Zoro was saying. Luffy leaned across the bed to their backpack, which had the clothes gone and now in their shared dresser. So all that was left in the pack were some toys and the book Nami read him, which he pulled out. Luffy wanted to see Nami.

"Do you want Nami to read it to you?" Luffy nodded. He wondered where she went. He felt good when he was with Zoro and was scared, but he wanted to see Nami. Did she just leave him? He saw Sanji come in and talk to them, so why wouldn't Nami?

"I'm going to shout for her, okay?" Zoro warned Luffy, who hated loud noises and especially sudden ones. He covered his ears with his small hands. "Nami!" Zoro shouted. She didn't call back but quickly walked into their new room. Luffy got down off of their low set bed and walked to her. Nami and Sanji had actually anchored down the railings for a crib in a line so Luffy had something solid to hang on instead of always holding Zoro's hand. And Luffy automatically put his hand on it. Zoro was impressed he figured out it would be a good thing to hang on to because, though Luffy was slow sometimes when it came to his body and its problems, he didn't like falling and didn't think it was how it should be. Though he'd never noticed his shaking hands as a problem.

Nami crouched in front of him and he handed her the book. Nami didn't mind reading it again, but closed the curtains this time to try and not have Luffy distracted by anything like birds. Sanji came into the room with a beanbag chair, and Zoro had to explain to Luffy what it was. Luffy walked up to it hesitantly and poked it. When nothing happened, he climbed onto it and sat down. He looked very surprised that he could get onto it himself. He was pleased and smiled. Sanji left with a smile towards Luffy to go and continue cooking their first meal as a real family.

Nami read him the book as Luffy was relaxed on the squishy shair with his stuffed giraffe and thumb in his mouth. He wasn't easily distracted while she read because it was quiet and there was no other movement in the room. He was used to many sounds from many people and a lot of things going on at once. He found that he liked the quiet. It was peaceful and the story and quiet distracted him from the fear of being someplace new.

Dinner that night was not how the two adults expected their first meal as a family would be like. First of all, they were all sitting on a picnic blanket in Luffy and Zoro's new safe space, and Kaya was laying down in the middle of all of them.

She kept trying to eat Luffy's food, because he continued to offer chicken to her no matter how many times Zoro moved his hand away from the hungry cat. Sanji quickly came in and told Kaya "no". She was well trained and stopped, surprising Zoro since he knew cats were somewhat independent. Luffy didn't notice and went back to eating his small serving of small pieces of orange chicken.

But neither adults complained, because they were also receiving necessary information from Zoro.

"I think it would be best for him to say 'mommy' and 'daddy'. He called our 'parents' mama and papa. I think calling you two the same thing would confuse him," Zoro explained, answering Nami's question.

"What time does he usually go to bed?" Sanji asked after taking a sip of his drink. No one noticed Luffy copying everything Sanji did.

"When his eyes get droopy it's the best time to get him asleep."

"And it's difficult to get him to sleep?" Nami questioned. Zoro nodded and explained that when Luffy had a good day, it was harder for him to sleep, and when he had a bad day, he napped sometimes during that time. Zoro also denied Luffy too many naps during day time so he could fall asleep at his bedtime relatively easily. Well, as easily as he could.

The three continued to talk about Luffy, like the type of clothes he liked to wear, how he was in public and around other people, and his internal schedule, like when he woke up. They talked about Luffy's own likes and dislikes, and how he seemed to learn.

Kaya eventually left the room, and Luffy looked sad again, though he didn't cry and his lips didn't wobble. Though they hadnt really been focusing on him, Zoro had rubbed circles on his little back to let him know they hadnt forgotten about him, not that Zoro completely knew if that was what he was feeling, since Luffy didn't cry or even sniffle. He had just sat there watching them for a while, before his attention strayed to the wall and he got lost in his own thoughts. What he was thinking about, no one knew.

After dinner, Luffy's eyes started to droop, and Zoro announced it was bedtime. Luffy didn't complain, and clumsily changed into his pyjamas shorts, with a little help from Zoro. He always wore the shirt he had on that day, since they were light cotton anyways. Plus he lost balance a lot when he lifted his arms too high.

That night, Nami and Sanji observed what Zoro did from the doorway, considering this as training for when they tucked their new son into bed in the future. It did take a while. Around half an hour of Zoro reading him picture books as Luffy was wrapped in his blankets with his giraffe and in his arm and his thumb in his mouth. There was a warm lamp next to Zoro's side of the bed, which he had asked for. Luffy's eyes stayed open for a while, though it was clear he was tired.

Finally, Luffy drifted off to sleep after Zoro quietly sang his favorite song. Zoro pulled their purple comforter over them and fell asleep with his brother.

Nami and Sanji were in the living room and kitchen, Sanji washing the utensils and dishes they'd used from dinner. Nami had put the picnic blanket into the wash and was sitting on the couch. She couldn't help but beam as she thought about how her new children were sleeping in their new house. They could finally be a family. She didn't mind how long it would take Luffy to get used to the new setting anymore. She had seen his improvement even throughout dinner. She was also very glad Kaya and Luffy were fine with each other. She didn't know what they would have done if Kaya had scared Luffy.

Part of her liked that Luffy was quiet. And that he didn't cry or really throw tantrums. Of course she wanted him to be able to speak, but this was like having a baby. Zoro had already taught Luffy to walk and be potty trained, but he wasn't able to teach Luffy to talk in sentences other than the few words Zoro had told the two adults that Luffy could say.

And Luffy did seem to understand much of what they said, Zoro especially. It was like they had their own language, one that only they could speak. It was amazing how Zoro knew just what to do for Luffy and know what his little brother wanted without being verbally informed. Nami hoped that would become the same for herself and Sanji.

Sanji was having his own happy thoughts. He had loved the smile that the brothers made when they tasted Sanji's food. He couldn't wait to cook them more. Cook them as much as they wanted, unlike their biological parents who only gave them enough food to share little bits. What terrible people. Depriving someone of food, especially  _their own children!_  He wondered if part of Luffy's stunted growth had to do from lack of nutrition while he was in the important stages of aging.

The cook was also feeling proud of the idea of making a simple menu for Luffy to choose food. And the idea that he and Nami had come up with for the railings to assist little Luffy to walk without stumbling.

Both Nami and Sanji wondered how smart Luffy really was. Zoro said he was slow a lot of the time, and they had witnessed that over the months. But they had also seen Luffy completely understand what Zoro was telling him. And it really was  _only Zoro_  that brought out Luffy's normal behavior. It was amazing how close they were. Luffy was lucky he had someone as loving and dedicated as Zoro.

The couple sat at their large couch and cuddled, both smiling, excited for what the next day would bring.


	6. Bad Memories

**Disclaimer: I don't think it is easy to adopt or decide to adopt a disabled child. That's just what I put in the story.**

**Here's chapter 6! A short chapter this time. Enjoy~**

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Luffy and Zoro were sleeping comfortably in their new bed, Luffy sleeping peacefully and dreaming of Kaya, while Zoro wasn't having a peaceful dream and was sweating, not from being hot.

_Eight year old Zoro walked into the kitchen, holding two year old Luffy's tiny hand, who was still in the process of learning to walk. He stumbled every few seconds and was wobbly altogether as his short legs worked in ways they hadn't before. Zoro was hungry and knew Luffy was too. They had already had their small lunch, but they needed more. And Zoro wanted to feed Luffy more. He was too small to be natural. Zoro blamed this on him being born prematurely and his health condition that Zoro was now aware of, but said nothing to the other two residents about it._

_Zoro couldn't tell Luffy to be careful when he was walking, because the little one couldn't understand much of what Zoro said. At this time, he only knew Zoro's name and what praise was. He knew he did something good when Zoro praised him._

_Zoro, for just a second, let go of Luffy's hand to open a box of pop tarts, praying that his parents didn't notice them since their backs were turned to them while they sat at the kitchen table. In those few seconds, Luffy had managed to stumble the couple yards towards the table, not knowing his parents were there. They scared him, but only when they looked at him. Zoro was able to keep him safe from their anger and abuse. Zoro had shielded him many times, getting hit in the process._

_Zoro turned around too late, for Luffy had already stumbled forward and accidentally pulled on the table cloth, knocking down many dishes and full mugs. Luffy cringed from the loud noises. Zoro hurried over to him, but both of them were now noticed. Their parents were livid._

_Luffy tried standing up again, but was dismissively kicked back down and rolled across the floor. Then he began to cry loudly, something he rarely did, in pain and fear. It hurt to be kicked so harshly with his fragile, two year old body. He didn't stand back up, but crawled back to Zoro, who lifted him into his arms tightly, scared of their parent's wrath._

" _Get him out of here!" his dad shouted. "Shut him up or I will!" he yelled again, but this made Luffy cry more. He was afraid of loud noises, and the shouting made him upset. Zoro nodded and hurried to their room, locking the door behind him while Luffy still cried._

" _Shh, it's okay, Luffy," Zoro cooed, rubbing circles on the toddler's back as he held him close after checking that he wasn't hurt badly anywhere. Zoro had managed to stuff the pop tarts into his worn out shorts. He broke up the pop tarts into small pieces. "Look, Luffy. I have food," Zoro said softly._

_Luffy's cries eventually quieted as he ate his chunks of stale cinnamon pop tart. Zoro seethed, but was also quite concerned about what just happened. Luffy had done well with not having much contact with his parents. He'd never been hit or kicked. Until today._

_Zoro was sick of the abuse and neglect. He wanted to leave, but where would they go? Plus, it was very cold outside. But the cold sounded better than this. The abuse they had to deal with. And he hated the looks Luffy got from his parents. Like he was garbage. He couldn't remember any time where either of them held their son. Not even once. He'd never even seen them smile at him. It was terrible, and Zoro was glad Luffy didn't notice this._

_As he thought this, Zoro watched Luffy eat, ready to help him if he choked on the food. But he didn't. When Luffy was done, Zoro scarfed down his pop tart and pulled Luffy with him to the bag Zoro had full of things he had for Luffy. He handed the little one his giraffe and baby blanket. He also pulled out Luffy's stolen sippy cup filled with room temperature tap water and helped Luffy drink some._

_Luffy had seemed to have forgotten what had happened and gazed out of their dirty window. It was getting late, and the pop tarts had been their dinner, since Zoro didn't want to go back out there with Luffy, and he never went anywhere without his brother._

_That night, Zoro had decided that he would put up with this life no longer. He had to wake up Luffy after he had their sack full of Luffy's belongings and some changes of clothes for the both of them. But neither had any thick jackets, and Luffy didn't even have shoes._

_Zoro wrapped Luffy in a thick blanket, like a cocoon, and put his own shoes on. He pulled the blanket up over Luffy's head of black and messy hair, since they didn't bathe much. The little one made no noise as Zoro opened their bedroom door and hurried down the hall and through to the living room, the lights all off._

_He looked behind him one last time as he snuck him and Luffy out through the front door and closed it quietly behind him. Zoro was freezing outside, but as long as Luffy was warm, then he was fine. He could deal with this._

_Luffy had never been outside except for their small backyard, and he was a bit afraid of the dark, and the bright lights from the cars slowly driving down the street, but he made no sound other than a quiet whimpering and hid his face in Zoro's chest. Zoro shushed him kindly as he walked._

_Once he was off of their street of crappy houses, he walked to a nice house, and asked for directions after someone answered the door. Zoro did his best not to shiver. The woman that opened the door was concerned for them. How the child was holding a baby wrapped in a blanket, both of them dirty and Zoro looking shaken up._

_Zoro didn't refuse when he was invited inside, since he saw another young child in the background. This woman looked safe, and Luffy needed clothes. Maybe the mother would give him some of her own son's clothes._

" _We are trying to get to the police station," Zoro explained as he stood in the entrance hall. "Can you give us directions?"_

" _Where are your parents?" the kind woman asked. Zoro pursed his lips and didn't answer. She didn't press him again. Instead she asked if they needed a ride. Zoro, thinking of Luffy, accepted her offer. He didn't want his brother to get sick out in the cold._

_The woman was kind enough to give Luffy a jacket and fluffy socks. The car ride down the street relaxed Zoro. He was glad there was already a car seat in the vehicle. They were finally going to be safe. Anywhere they were together and out of those peoples' lives, then Zoro was content._

_Zoro thanked the woman as he walked them into the police station and told the officer at the desk what had happened. Luffy had fallen asleep in the car ride, which surprised Zoro a bit. But Luffy had been woken up early, and he always needed at least ten hours of sleep to stay awake the next day._

_They were finally safe._

Zoro woke up and sighed at the unpleasant dream. He'd had it before. Many times. At first, when he woke up from it, he'd be breathing quickly and would hug Luffy to his chest, who usually woke up from it. Then Luffy would be concerned with Zoro's teary eyes, because he would imagine what might have happened if they hadn't left that night.

He looked down at Luffy curled up in his blanket, sleeping contently. He hoped Luffy was having nice dreams. He wondered if Luffy remembered the days they spent at their original home. He hoped not.

Zoro felt a small thump at the end of their bed and saw the white cat, who stared at him for a moment before laying down on the corner of the purple blanket. Zoro smiled. They finally had a real home. And new family, a family Luffy loved, and Zoro did, too. Part of him wished he was younger. Then he could call Nami and Sanji mom and dad without feeling slightly awkward. At least Luffy could, though. He definitely deserved it. And now Luffy could get professional help for his current and possibly future problems.

After falling back asleep, Zoro had a peaceful rest of the night.

The next morning, Luffy woke up first, and was confused and alarmed at the new scenery around him, before he remembered that he was someplace new. He squirmed in his blankets, tangled up in it. He made a frustrated noise as he tried to get free of the fabric. He tried to pat Zoro's arm as best as he could, now scared of being unable to move.

"Zoro," Luffy whispered in alarm. Zoro woke up immediately and saw Luffy's wide eyes and how tightly he was wrapped in his blanket, trapping him. His lower lip wobbled as he struggled to be free. But Zoro helped him before he started to cry, and took him gently out of his blankets and hugged him.

"I got you, Luffy," Zoro said softly. Luffy sniffled once and then wrapped his arms around his big brother. That was scary. Zoro decided to draw Luffy's thoughts to another topic. "Do you want a bath?" he asked. Luffy nodded his little head in response. "But we have to leave the room, Luffy. You can hide your face if you need to," Zoro reassured him. Luffy gulped and lifted his arms slightly for Zoro to pick him up and then wrapped his little arms and feet around Zoro like a baby monkey hanging off its mother.

Zoro walked across the hall to the bathroom. He didn't know how early the brothers' new parents got up, and Zoro had bathed Luffy countless times by himself. He was sure he'd find the bath bubbles in a cupboard somewhere.

Zoro entered the bathroom that was so close to their room and sat Luffy down on the toilet seat to rummage around in the cupboards. The older brother found everything necessary in the linen cupboard and walked past Luffy to the big tub to fill it up with warm water.

Luffy watched Zoro, instead of looking around the unfamiliar room, as he poured the bubble liquid into the filling tub, and smiled as he watched the bubbles form. He couldn't wait to be inside of them!

Once the two were undressed and sitting in the warm bubbly bath water, Zoro washed Luffy with some nice smelling soap, and supervised Luffy as he washed his unruly black hair. Luffy could wash his body okay, though he dropped the slippery soap very often, but it was easier for Zoro to do it for him. Sometimes, Luffy would insist on  _him_ washing  _Zoro_ , and when he did, it was always clumsy and unthorough, but cute and endearing at the same time.

"Hey, Luffy. Do you think you'll ever take a bath with Nam-  _mommy?"_ Zoro questioned. He decided it would be best to set an example around Luffy to help him get used to the words mommy and daddy and who those names belonged to. Luffy looked confused.

"The nice lady who took us home is our new mommy. She will be a loving mommy and will take good care of you and love you. Like I do." Luffy still looked a bit troubled. Mommy? But he'd had other mommys, right? Were they all mommy? They all took care of him, too. Were a lot of people named mommy? Was Luffy supposed to call the nice lady mommy? Somewhere in his mind, he realized he liked the new mommy. She was nice, but he thought her name was something else…

"I'll show you who our mommy and daddy are when they wake up, okay?" Zoro asked kindly. Luffy nodded. They sat in the bath until the water was no longer warm and then Zoro rinsed both of them off and wrapped Luffy in a towel that was just the right size for him. The towels at their previous foster homes were all too big for Luffy. Rarely did they buy things sized specifically for Luffy besides some clothes.

Nami woke up to the sound of the bathtub filling, and assumed the brothers were taking a bath. She smiled, planning on having breakfast ready for the two. A good breakfast with many dishes. She woke Sanji up next to her, who was snoring quietly. He was startled awake and looked at Nami with sleepy eyes.

"Morning," Nami said, and then got to the point. "Luffy and Zoro are taking a bath. Can you make breakfast for them when they come out?" Sanji smiled.

"Of course," he replied and the two got dressed for the day, heading for the kitchen and not looking through the open crack in the bathroom door. Sanji immediately got to cooking a banquet for their first breakfast meal, enough to feed the four until their stomachs ached. It was a good test to see how much the boys could eat before they got full. Based on how much pancakes Luffy had scarfed down that day that seemed so long ago, Sanji was curious about how big the kid's stomach really was.

He cooked eggs, pancakes, sausages, bacon and toast with butter. Then he poured glasses of orange juice and a small plastic sippy cup they bought for Luffy. Sanji moved all of the plates of food into the boys' bedroom like a buffet.

Luffy and Zoro came out of the bathroom and smelled the most delicious smells. Even Luffy smelled it, and it smelled very yummy. The now dry children walked into their room to see a massive meal laid out on a larger picnic blanket. Luffy made his surprised gasp and looked at Zoro with big eyes. The little one had never seen so much food.

"You hungry?" Zoro asked with a smile. Luffy gave a smile back and his answer was to walk the few feet to his plate and sit down. His fork was blunt plastic, like the one at their previous foster home.

Zoro sat himself down in front of his own plate and went to give Luffy small servings and cutting the food up into little pieces like usual. "Don't eat too fast, okay, Luffy?" Zoro told him. Luffy nodded and began to eat, slowly. He smiled when he ate the little piece of sausage and went on to his scrambled eggs. The food was very yummy to Luffy, and he enjoyed eating.

Zoro watched Luffy eat protectively, ready for any trouble that might come during the delicious meal. "This is great, Sanji," Zoro said after swallowing a large mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"I'm glad," the man replied with a smirk.

"Sanji is the best cook I've ever had the pleasure to meet," Nami said, smiling at her husband.

After the meal was over, and both boys had eaten quite a bit, Zoro asked Nami and Sanji to stay in the room for a little bit.

"Luffy," Zoro began. "This is mommy and daddy. Nice lady is your new mommy, and good food man is your new daddy. They love you and will take care of you now, with me. Our new home is their home," he explained to his brother. Luffy nodded, though they knew he wouldn't be calling them mommy and daddy anytime soon. But eventually, they would be. It had taken quite a while for Zoro to teach Luffy his name and Luffy's own, after all. And there was no rush.

"Do you want to try going outside of the room today?" Zoro asked. Luffy's face showed fear and he looked at his small hands, not sure what to do. This place was unfamiliar, and he didn't like that. But Zoro called this place home. Was this a nice home? "You don't have to if you don't want to. But we could watch the Lion King in the living room, right?" he asked Nami, who nodded and smiled at Luffy sweetly. Now Luffy was torn. He wanted to watch his favorite movie really bad. He decided he'd try. But he didn't want to see everything yet.

Luffy stood up and lifted his arms for Zoro, who picked him up after wrapping him in his blanket and grabbed the giraffe. Like predicted, Luffy didn't look at their surroundings as they moved through the house. Zoro finally put him down on the couch, in the corner similar to the last couch they sat on. The back of it was tall, so Luffy couldn't see much behind him. His view was limited to the living room.

The little one opened his eyes and shimmied himself tighter in his blanket, though not too tight so he didn't get trapped again. That was scary and he didn't want it to happen again.

Zoro sat at Luffy's feet and let Nami and Sanji sit on either side of their little child. Sanji had made some plain popcorn in a small plastic bowl for Luffy to snack on, which Luffy was grateful for. As the movie played, Zoro would occasionally look behind him to see how happy Nami and Sanji were. Nami was holding Luffy's hand, which was resting outside of his blanket. Sanji couldn't hold his other hand since it's thumb was in Luffy's mouth. Zoro smiled at the scene. He couldn't get over how happy seeing people look at Luffy with love made him. He was happy that Luffy found a family early in his life.

Now, Zoro wasn't exactly  _old_ , but he'd lost his childish innocence after having to become a parent and protector, not that he resented Luffy for it. He could have always just left Luffy on someone's doorstep, but he didn't. He never even had the thought in passing, even when Zoro had to shove pillows under the bedroom door so that their parents wouldn't hear Luffy crying and fussing when he was a newborn baby and wanted to be fed.

Half way through the movie Luffy didn't tear his attention away from, Kaya jumped onto the back on the couch and sniffed Luffy's clean hair from above. Luffy briefly looked up in surprise at what had touched him and gave a tiny giggle at the cat that bumped noses with him.

Nami, Sanji and Zoro each gave soft smiles. Luffy didn't laugh often, and didn't smile too often despite being a very happy child. He usually wore a content, interested or surprised expression. Luffy rubbed his nose and pat Kaya on the head awkwardly with his arm reaching back in a strange angle. Then he turned back to the big TV and watched Simba singing one of Luffy's favorite songs.

Luffy stayed in the living room even after the movie was over. The carpet was comfy and he liked the blue bean bag chair in the corner near the fireplace. He was plopped down on it, his short limbs spread out around him on the oversized chair as he listened to Nami read new stories. Luffy held his new fluffy pom pom as he contently listened to the story his new mommy read.

Zoro sat next to him, propped up against the side of the bean bag, reading his own book. He had never owned anything to himself. Everything was either Luffy's, or shared with Luffy. But now he had a large set of books that his parents assumed he'd like. And so far he did. Zoro liked it here already. It was peaceful and relaxing.

Sanji sat at the bar in the kitchen and watched his finally complete family as they relaxed. His wife had finally gotten her dream children, and he finally had little ones to feed with his affection and food. He knew no matter if Luffy grew to have problems, he'd never not want him. He hated the fact he hesitated about even thinking of adopting his youngest son because he had a disability, though the logic made sense to him at the time.

The meals were eaten in the living room, and Luffy had chosen another delicious dish from Sanji's menu. Zoro got to choose the dessert. The three decided it would be best to slowly introduce Luffy to each part of the house one day at a time. Now they only had the kitchen, dining room, the other bedrooms and bathrooms and the backyard until he was familiar with the whole house.

Luffy grew sleepy around the same time as the night before, so Zoro bid Sanji and Nami goodnight, telling them he'd walk them through the routine tomorrow. Luffy had a harder time falling asleep that night, and tossed and turned in his blanket many times. Zoro made sure to not wrap his brother again like he'd been that morning, confused and afraid. Zoro rarely saw that face anymore, and it broke his heart to see him look scared.

Zoro sang Luffy's song quietly so the little one had to focus more on the soft words to hear them instead of the other noises in the room. The faint noises coming from outside, and the small  _whoosh_ sound coming from the vents. Along with Kaya running up and down the hall with her obnoxiously loud paw thuds.

Eventually both boys fell asleep with Luffy's back up against Zoro's chest while they both were covered by the purple comforter.

_Luffy walked with Zoro down the hall to their bedroom holding hands, with Zoro staying on Luffy's left so he didn't see their parents and vice versa, but Luffy did catch a glimpse of their faces. They looked mad at him. Really not nice and Luffy didn't know why. But he waved his small hand to them. Yet they just looked angrier._

_Luffy looked upwards to Zoro, who also looked upset, but not at Luffy. All Zoro did was turn to the side and pull Luffy up into his arms so they could get to their room faster. Zoro hated the looks their parents gave to Luffy. They had already permanently damaged Luffy's body and brain, the least they could do was not be assholes around him. That was why Zoro always tried to keep them out of Luffy's view._

_Luffy tried looking over Zoro's shoulder, but the two had just turned into their bed room and the door shut as they crossed the threshold._

" _I love you Luffy," Zoro said with a genuine smile as he ran his fingers through Luffy's black hair. Luffy gave a content smile. He was glad Zoro was a nice person and took care of him. Luffy crawled up to Zoro, his legs tired from that day's practice of learning to walk, and hugged him tightly. As tight as his small arms could._

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**Don't you just DESPISE Luffy's and Zoro's biological parents? They're so terrible.**


	7. Seizures: Part 1

**This chapter is when the FAS side effects start to cause problems. A more dramatic chapter, though with fluff of course. I did a lot of research for this story, so just know what happens in it is accurate. Enjoy~**

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The day went by like the others, slowly adjusting Luffy at his own pace. They were able to eat in the dining room that night, Luffy having a comfortable raised seat that wasn't a real high chair. It was more like a very tall chair with side railings on it that was pulled close to the table. He had his own placemat, Lion King themed of course. They ate simple butterfly pasta, which Luffy was happy about. He didn't like tomato sauce, so he ate the food with butter, parmesan and pepper. It sure made a lot less of a mess after he was done eating. He also had grape juice in a sippy cup.

They had spent a lot of time in the room, mostly Luffy drawing. His pictures were terrible since his shaking hands interfered, but like always, he didn't notice it. Zoro read his books.

Luffy had bonded with Sanji with the mini kitchen set they had bought him. It was stacked with fake plastic food and the whole set was a perfect size for Luffy. The little boy couldn't really go through the motions of cooking because he'd never seen anyone doing it in real life. Luffy almost took a bite out of a fake apple, but Sanji told him he shouldn't do that. That it wasn't real food so couldn't be eaten.

"But I'll show you a magic trick," Sanji said with a small smirk. Luffy opened his mouth, excited to see a magic trick. "Watch," Sanji told him. The man then went into the kitchen and fetched a real apple. He knew most kids Luffy's age wouldn't fall for this, but Luffy was a special case.

"Watch carefully," Sanji said, crouched in front of him now. He put the fake apple up and then behind his back with one hand, pulling the real apple from behind his back with the other hand. "Tah dah!" Luffy took the apple and hesitantly bit into it, amazed that Sanji could turn fake food into real food! Luffy smiled and clapped his hands twice. Zoro and Nami watched the whole thing from the kitchen table with smiles. Then it was Zoro's turn to interact with Luffy.

"Luffy, can I have the apple to cut up into small pieces for you?" Zoro asked, kneeling in front of him. Of course, Luffy did what Zoro said and handed him the apple. "Can I have a knife?" he asked Sanji.

Luffy watched as Zoro cut up his magic apple into small pieces excitedly.

Zoro noticed that part of him was adjusting slower than Luffy. It still hadn't really licked, even after over a week, that they were safe in a family forever. One that loved him and Luffy. He still looked out for Luffy every step the two took, though Zoro knew Luffy was completely safe. But there was still the parental instinct to protect him from  _everything_  on the planet. He'd have to work on this and build the trust he knew he had to. And that Nami and Sanji deserve.

Luffy had adjusted much better here than the other homes they'd moved to. Zoro assumed it was because of Nami and Sanji paying a ton of attention to him and Zoro. Luffy always did good with one-on-one time, and playing with his parents separately was a good idea, though the four often watched movies together. Thankfully, Luffy hadnt had a grumpy day yet.

Zoro mostly spent his time when it wasnt with Luffy reading books. Zoro really enjoyed his life in this home so far. The three were planning on starting to try and teach Luffy to talk next week or so. The adults had many resources to help Luffy along the way. Zoro knew Luffy wanted to talk sometimes, when he wanted to express feelings, since Zoro couldn't always tell with those. But he knew it was very difficult for Luffy to turn the words he understood into words he could speak out loud. Poor kid.

Zoro walked into the kitchen with Luffy one morning, holding hands, to get some cereal for breakfast. Nami and Sanji were already sitting on the table, Nami working on some bead bracelets for her friends when Luffy wandered away from Zoro, who was pouring both of their bowls. Luffy usually stayed next to Zoro, but mommy was doing something shiny. Zoro calling Nami and Sanji mommy and daddy had helped Luffy click with those names, though he hadnt spoken them yet.

Luffy walked up to the table to see what she was doing when he stumbled a bit. Like two years ago, Luffy reached out to hold onto the table cloth to keep his balance, only to knock down a bunch of the beads, though not all of them. Zoro was there in a flash, and reacted based on instinct from the past.

He sprinted to Luffy and pulled him to his chest, his back to Nami and Sanji, protecting Luffy. He hadn't even thought about what he was doing until he was holding Luffy tightly against himself. Nami and Sanji just looked at him in shock. Luffy was surprised as well.

"Zoro?" Nami asked, breaking Zoro out of his overly protective mode.

"Ah. S- sorry, Luffy. I didn't mean to scare you," Zoro said kindly.

"We're not mad, Zoro. It was an accident," Nami said reassuringly. Sanji was scowling across from Nami, though not in anger at Luffy or Zoro. Zoro let Luffy go, who turned around to the mess he accidentally made. He looked at the floor and clasped his hands together, feeling guilty about the mess he caused.

"It's okay, Luffy. It was an accident," Nami told him sweetly, standing up to crouch in front of him and run her fingers through his hair to assure him that he was forgiven. Luffy smiled and nodded, looking thankful.

"Zoro?" Sanji began. "We you two hit by your birth parents?" he asked seriously. Nami froze and looked to Zoro, who sighed and then nodded. He owed them the truth. It would have come out sooner or later anyways.

"Luffy… he knocked down food off the table once when he was two and got kicked hard for it. That was the incident that made me leave with him. Other than that time, I kept him safe from them," Zoro confessed, not looking at Sanji or Nami. Luffy also couldn't see Zoro's face, so he couldn't tell if what they were talking about was bad. He heard his own name, but that was it since he had gotten distracted by touching the beads.

"I'm positive he doesn't remember it. When I left with him, it was night time and snowing. Neither of us had jackets and he didn't even have shoes. A woman drove us to the police station and I told them we needed help and were escaping a bad situation," Zoro explained. Both parents were very angry.

"We would  _never_ hit either of you, Zoro," Sanji said forcefully. "You have to know that."

Zoro sighed, feeling guilty. "I know. It was just instinct." Luffy was rolling a purple bead around in his fingers, crouched next to the mess he made that mommy forgave him for. He loved mommy.

Nami smiled back at Luffy, who was still playing with the purple bead. She began to pick up the beads, which Luffy then helped her do, though he couldn't grasp the very small ones. Nami thanked him for his help and put the beads on the table, first pulling the tablecloth off. They wouldn't be using it again anytime soon.

"Luffy, do you want to watch me make jewelry?" Nami asked him. Luffy looked up from the bead in his hand and nodded enthusiastically, though he wasn't sure what jewelry was. Nami, instead of putting him on his chair, picked him up and sat him in her lap. "Do you want to help make one?" Luffy nodded, his upper chest barely able to reach above the table's surface.

The two then spend the next twenty minutes making a bracelet, Nami putting together the beads Luffy picked out. He only lost concentration once, and that was when Kaya walked up to Zoro, who was reading again, leaned against the wall where Luffy could still see him. Their bowls of cereal were forgotten, turning soggy in the milk on the kitchen counter.

Luffy's bracelet was really just a bunch of random beads put together. There was no pattern or symmetry, but no one expected it to. Most of the beads he chose were purple, his favorite color. When Nami tied the string, she handed him the bracelet, but Luffy instead gave it back to her with a cute smile.

"You're giving it to me?" Nami clarified. Luffy nodded happily. "Thank you, Luffy. It's very pretty." Luffy spent much of the rest of the day doing things with Nami while Sanji and Zoro watched TV. Luffy found no interest in the show they were watching because they weren't cartoons, which were Luffy's favorite.

A couple weeks went by where Luffy was soon used to the house, and would follow Kaya around often, sneaking her food while he knew his mommy and daddy wouldn't let him. But Kaya always came to Luffy when he was snacking on cheerios, and she acted hungry, and hungry meant they should get food. Luffy was just doing what he thought was morally the right thing to do. Thankfully, the cereal didn't irritate Kaya's stomach, and she would only eat a few pieces at a time.

On the second week the brothers were with their new parents, Nami began to try and teach Luffy to speak. Zoro would help too, and Sanji would reward him for pronouncing any sound, whether it was just a single syllable, or the whole word. The first word he pronounced was "Ka" because he really liked Kaya, and Kaya would sit on the table while they had their daily lessons.

Nami had researched how to help a nonverbal child speak, and she eventually settled with treating his speech problems as if he were autistic.

Sanji would take Luffy outside and to the couples' tangerine trees, lifting Luffy up to pick the ripe fruit to eat later raw or as a desert. Sanji found himself loving his new sons. He was glad they adopted the two. Zoro, because he had interesting conversations and was pretty mature, and Luffy, because he was like a little ball of sunshine for all of them. He even began to giggle more. Luffy was over all very happy to be living with mommy and daddy.

Zoro, however, was having a hard time sharing Luffy with others. It had been just the two of them for so long. And while Luffy still liked having Zoro around somewhere he could see him, he spent a lot of time with his mommy and daddy.

But the older brother, who turned eleven half way through the second week, would still read and sing to Luffy. Zoro had withheld the fact that his birthday was coming up because he found no reason to celebrate it. He didn't need any gifts or cake. Nami and Sanji only found out when Sanji was looking through their paperwork trying to see when the last time the two had immunization shots.

So Nami and Sanji held a small party for Zoro, who was embarrassed when they sang happy birthday, Luffy doing his best to hum along, knowing that something was special for Zoro that day.

"'Ppy bafay!" was his first sentence, even if the words were garbled and incomplete.

"Thank you Luffy," Zoro said fondly, glad Luffy was finally able to start speaking. Zoro wasn't upset that Nami and Sanji were having a more successful time teaching the little boy because Zoro just hadnt had the resources or knowledge about how to best lead Luffy into the world of speaking.

Zoro's presents were some new books and a framed picture of himself and Luffy both playing with the younger brother's colorful set of blocks. That present was Zoro's favorite.

It was on the fifth week that Luffy had an unfortunate event.

The little one was walking over to Nami to show her a messy scribble drawing he'd made, which was supposed to be a banana, but was blue and was just a curved stick. But Zoro knew what it was and watched Luffy as he walked happily across the room. But then Luffy suddenly stopped and stared into space. His eyes were blinking very rapidly.

"Luffy?" Zoro asked as he crouched next to his brother. Luffy didn't respond at all, only kept blinking. Zoro knew this was more than him just getting distracted easily. "Luffy?" he asked again, concerned. This only lasted maybe ten seconds, and then Luffy suddenly continued to walk, his face no longer blank and his eyes blinking normally. Luffy acted as if nothing had happened.

"Nami?" Zoro began. He no longer called her and Sanji mommy and daddy because Luffy now knew to call them that. "Something weird just happened with Luffy."

"What happened?"

"He just stopped walking and stared off into space. And it wasn't like he normally gets distracted." Zoro then walked up to Luffy, who was admiring his blue banana picture. "Luffy, are you okay?"

"Eh?" Luffy asked. He felt fine.

"Do you remember when you stopped walking?" Zoro questioned. Luffy just looked confused.

"'Aht?" Luffy replied, trying to say 'what?'"

"Nevermind," Zoro said, trying to keep the concern out of his voice.

At the dinner table that night, as Luffy was eating his pasta, he stopped again, the fork help up in front of him, looking at nothing.

"Look, he's doing it again," Zoro pointed out to the other two quickly. Luffy then continued to eat as if nothing had happened, again. The three looked at each other in concern, hoping it was nothing.

But Luffy did this again as he was climbing into bed. Zoro was now very concerned, but didn't bring it up since Luffy didn't seem to notice anything different. He had trouble falling asleep that night, and needed to be softly read  _Goodnight Moon,_  which helped him fall asleep easier than any other book Zoro had ever tried.

Sanji sat on the couch, searching Luffy's behavior on his laptop. What he found upset him, and he closed his computer, planning on making a doctor's appointment the next day, deep down hoping he was wrong about his suspicion. They were going to make a house call once Luffy was completely adjusted to the house, but now they would have to go anyways. Zoro had been wanting them to put it off, since nothing was wrong and he didnt want to hinder Luffy's progress, no matter that he wanted help.

But now they had no choice.

"Luffy, we have to go out in public," Nami told the little boy the next day, trying to sound gentle. "We can get yummy food after we go to the doctor's." Luffy was standing in front of a crouching Nami, rubbing his fingers together.

"'Y?" Luffy asked, trying to say "why?". Nami didn't know what to tell him, so Zoro intervened.

"We have to get check ups, so we don't get sick. It's no fun getting sick, right?" Zoro was telling the truth; they both were getting check ups, it's just that Luffy was getting a more thorough check up. An evaluation to see if their suspicion was correct.

Zoro had not been happy that morning, after hearing that Sanji suspected his little brother had epilepsy. Zoro was deathly afraid Luffy would get violent seizures. Luffy would be terrified and the three already had to keep their eyes on him while he was awake. Trying to see a seizure before it started would be difficult. Zoro was thankful Sanji was concerned, and not regretting adopting Luffy. But the good thing was that epilepsy wasn't fatal, and getting Luffy some medication would help the problem.

A sickening good thing was happening here, though. Now that Luffy most likely had epilepsy, Zoro was worrying about one less problem appearing. He hated that he thought like that, but it was the only good thing he could come up with from this situation.

Luffy knew he didn't want to get sick, though he hadnt often, never going outside. There was a time he got a cold at one of his other foster homes, when he was almost three. He remembered that he didn't have fun whenever Zoro brought the word "sick" up.

But Luffy also really didn't get to go out in public. Big things everywhere.

"I'll be with you. So will mommy and daddy. And we can go out for some ice cream or candy afterwards." Luffy finally nodded.

"'Kay…" he said quietly. Zoro was glad Luffy could communicate the basics now. He was learning faster now that he could pronounce syllables better. He already knew what words meant what.

"Good. Let's go get dressed," Zoro said as he took Luffy's hand and they walked to their room together.

Nami and Sanji had bought the boys both some new clothes, basing what they chose on the sizes of the clothes they had come with. Luffy was dressed in plain blue pants and a shirt with a monkey face on it. Zoro just wore jeans and a green shirt. They both donned fluffy jackets and rain boots, since it was cold outside today.

Luffy was strapped into his car-seat with a kind smile from Sanji. "You'll be okay," he told Luffy softly. Nami smiled. She really liked seeing this side of Sanji. But then she lost her smile as she reminded herself where and why they were going.

Half way through the drive, Zoro noticed Luffy had stopped rubbing his fingers together and sat very still, blinking quickly. Zoro just sighed. There was no use pointing it out at the moment, since they were going to a specialist anyways, regardless of whether it did or didn't happen again.

The hospital they were going to was quite large, but the children's area was in a smaller, one story building, much to Luffy's gratitude. The big white building was too big for him, and he didn't want to go inside there.

It was no surprise that Luffy wanted to be carried, but this time he wanted Sanji because Sanji was bigger and could fend off scary monsters out there. Zoro wasn't offended, just surprised, as was Sanji. But the man picked Luffy up as he wanted him to and walked with Zoro and his wife into the white building.

Luffy kept his face buried, not even looking up at the strange  _whoosh_  sound the double doors made when they opened to let the family through.

While Nami and Sanji went to the desk to sign in, Zoro was passed Luffy and the two sat on a squishy chair in the corner near a TV, which was playing SpongeBob for the children, which there were many. A lot of kids seemed to have colds. Zoro hoped he or Luffy wouldn't get sick.

"Luffy, you cant suck your thumb here, okay? You might get germs and get sick," Zoro explained. Luffy frowned, but nodded. Zoro pulled Luffy's stuffed giraffe from his backpack he brought. They would clean the plushie when they got back home.

The wait wasn't too bad, and Luffy mostly was distracted by playing with the childrens' toys available in baskets around the waiting room. There werent many children who looked younger than Luffy. It seemed the kids there could be from three to thirteen. Zoro noticed a lot of people looked at Luffy, thinking he was cute. He was very cute, playing with toy cars happily, almost forgetting he was in public. He'd never had toy cars before, and he could see the similarity between the little toys and the big moving things right outside the windows behind him.

When the family was finally called in, Luffy was in a better mood, and since there was no one in the clean hallways, which could hide no monsters in the shadows that werent there, he walked himself, but held Zoro's hand of course. Zoro was the only one short enough to walk with Luffy's hand without having to bend over.

Once the four were in an examination room, and the nurse had arrived, both Zoro and Luffy were sitting on the room's mattress. The two would stay in the same room through the whole process, because Luffy would get upset for being away from Zoro, especially in an unknown and strange place.

The boys both had their temperatures taken, and their ears checked out. Luffy was nervous, but seeing Zoro do these things, he knew he'd be safe with his brother, who would never make Luffy do something scary.

Luffy did not have his blood drawn, but Zoro did, and he made no move to resist or freak out, which impressed his two parents.

The basic examinations didn't last long, and Luffy cooperated well, though Zoro needed to explain things to him, something Luffy had been needing less of. But he didn't encounter new things much anymore, so they could see why he didn't get confused often anymore. His new environment was doing wonders for him.

When Luffy's special doctor came in, it was a kind looking woman, which Nami had requested. Women always seemed more gentle for little kids, she thought. Well, that's how it was with her sister when she was young.

"Hello," the doctor said kindly. "My name is Dr. Marguerite. Are you Luffy?" she asked the little boy kindly, lowering herself a bit so she was at his height on the mattress. Luffy nodded. "How are you today?" she asked, but Luffy didn't answer, looking slightly frightened. Dr. Marguerite took no offense from this. She had been informed of Luffy's mental state.

"So, you're here because of his symptoms of epilepsy? Can you give me some details about the situation?" the doctor asked nicely, sitting down in her wheely chair with a clipboard.

"Yes," Nami began. "Yesterday, three times he suddenly stopped what he was doing and just stared off into space. He was blinking quickly, and once he was back to normal, he didn't remember what had happened seconds before. We also know that epilepsy can be a side effect for FAS."

"He also had one in the car," Zoro informed them.

"I see. And how long do these little episodes last?"

"For ten to twenty seconds I'd say," Sanji said. Luckily for the doctor, as Luffy sat quietly, Zoro noticed that he was sitting very still.

"He's doing it right now," Zoro said quickly to the doctor, who observed the boy as he stared at nothing. This time it only lasted around twelve seconds. The doctor was positive it was epilepsy now that she had seen it herself.

"Well, by his symptoms and mental state, I'm positive these are seizures," Dr. Marguerite said once Luffy was back to normal, now staring at the wallpaper, which was a lot of fish swimming in blue. It was all around the walls, and the ceiling was clouds and a smiling sun. Luffy liked this room, and it distracted him while the others in the room spoke.

"Seizures?" Nami asked worriedly. When she thought of seizures, she pictured falling and shaking on the ground, unable to control their body.

"These are called absence seizures, and they are the most harmless seizures there are for epilepsy. And luckily, they cause no long-term damage. The most damage these seizures could do is if he is holding something sharp or heavy, or he might sometimes continue to walk and hit something like a wall or furniture. Medication will help reduce the amount of seizures, or rid them completely if the drugs work well enough. There are side effects, like any type of medication, and will be a hit or miss." The doctor then went on to explain different types of medication that would be helpful, and the side effects that might accompany each type.

Luffy watched the walls the whole time, enjoying Zoro rubbing his back gently on habit to let Luffy know they still knew he was there, even if he wasn't engaging in the conversation or even paying attention to it. He heard his name many times, but the fishies were too interesting to look away from.

A couple hours later, Luffy and Zoro were sitting in the car, eating some candy, deciding against ice cream since it was bound to leave a mess. They were waiting with Nami in the car while Sanji was inside the pharmacy, waiting for Luffy's medication. They were worried about the side effects of the drug, which was called Zarontin. The possible side effects were: nausea, vomiting, sleepiness, trouble sleeping and hyperactivity. The ones they were most worried about were nausea and vomiting. It would actually be nice if he were to get sleepy often. The extra sleep might be good for him, and the parents thought it would be good for Zoro as well, as he'd be able to do something without watching Luffy all day. Zoro didn't think this, but a part of him, deep down, would appreciate some time for himself.

Luffy was to be given a low amount twice a day to start, and if all goes well, the dosage would be upped gradually. Luffy was going to take it with breakfast and dinner. He had had another seizure while he was licking his big lolly pop, just sat very still in his car seat.

For dinner, Sanji ordered pizza, even getting Luffy his own personal one. Luffy was a bit strange how he ate because he scraped the cheese and toppings on his pizza off with a fork and just ate the bread with the sauce. Luffy had never had pizza before, and predictably made quite a mess. But Nami had a specific shirt he'd wear during meals that would be similar to a bib.

He took the pills quite easily after Zoro modeled how to do it with a cheerio, about the same size of the zarontin.

The three watched Luffy closely for the next couple days, and he was showing side effects. Often, he'd zoom around the room, switching from coloring, to playing with blocks, to playing with his new little car toys and then back to coloring. Luckily, he kept his hyperactivity to the living room, where there were pillows placed strategically for if he fell, he'd most likely fall onto a soft surface, since there was no way Zoro could catch him at all times when he went crazy.

He also began to nap throughout the day. Probably from the medication and also how hyper he became during parts of the day. But no one minded these side effects, since he'd had only one seizure in the last three days. Luffy would fall asleep on the bean bag chair either in the living room, or in their bedroom when Zoro was in there, since the little boy could now use the step stool to get onto their low bed easily in his sleepy state.

He did have trouble going to sleep, but it hadn't gotten any worse than it was before. Now, Luffy could fall asleep to a piano version of his favorite song that played quietly on their night stand. He hadn't vomited or shown any sign of nausea, which they were grateful for. So far, so good.

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**The medication is real medication, I didn't make it up.**


	8. Meeting the Family

**I haven't gotten any feedback since chapter 4, and it's discouraging, so please review at least something. Kinda disappointed with how little attention this story is getting both on here and ff.net. I think it's pretty creative. Well, let's forget my little pity party, lol.**

**Anyways, this chapter is introducing more characters to the boys, their new extended family. Time skips start happening now, since this story covers two-three years of Luffy and Zoro's life. Enjoy~**

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Zoro's eyes snapped open as he quickly rushed off of their bed at four in the morning, knocking a slumbering Luffy off of their low bed and onto the carpet. It didn't hurt, just surprised him awake. He saw Zoro run out of the door and across the hall to the bathroom to spectacularly throw up. Luffy ran after him in concern.

Zoro threw up all the contents in his stomach into the toilet and coughed between heaves. Luffy watched him with wide eyes before he went running down the hall to mommy and daddy's room.

"Help, Zoro! Help!" he shouted in his high voice, trying to be as loud as possible. He pushed the bedroom door open and woke his parents while still screaming for help for Zoro. Nami's eyes snapped open and she saw Luffy pulling at their blankets to get them up. "Zoro!" he shouted again, running back out into the hallway to lead the adults to Zoro, who continued to heave nothing into the toilet.

Luffy stumbled once, but picked himself back up to run the short distance and point into the room. Sanji was following behind Nami, but was the one to get to Zoro while his wife stayed with Luffy, who was very scared that Zoro was hurt.

All Sanji could do was rub his hand gently on the back as the older boy heaved. He finally stopped, his throat raw and his head hurting. He wiped his mouth on the piece of toilet paper handed to him by Sanji. Zoro looked up and to the side.

"I- I'm okay Luffy. Don't worry," Zoro rasped shakily, feeling like crap. Luffy rubbed his fingers together nervously. Zoro shakily got up, followed by Sanji, who had emptied the bathroom garbage can and handed the small trash can to Zoro to hold in front of himself if he felt he was going to vomit again.

Everyone went into the boys room, but upset Luffy when Zoro told him, kindly, that Luffy couldn't sleep with Zoro tonight. Luffy frowned and shook his head. "On'y Zoro," he said clearly. Zoro explained to him softly that he might get Luffy sick if they got too close.

"You could have the bed, and I'll take the bean bag chair. Does that sound okay?"

Luffy shook his head. He said, "Zoro," and pointed to the bed. Zoro wasn't feeling good, so he should have the bed. Luffy really, really wanted to stay with Zoro! He'd never slept without him for as long as he could remember.

"Thanks, Luffy. You could even try to sleep with mommy and daddy tonight," Zoro offered. But Luffy shook his head.

"On'y Zoro," the little boy said again. "You sick."

"You'll watch over me?" Zoro asked kindly, smiling. "But you have to sleep, too. I know; I'll be okay if you just sleep in the same room. You can watch over me in your dreams. Does that sound okay?" Luffy smiled and nodded. He'd do a good job taking care of Zoro while he slept. Zoro always took care of Luffy; it was time for him to do the same.

Nami took Luffy's Lion King blanky and his stuffed animal and lead him to the soft bean bag chair, which was probably only five feet away from the bed. Both boys settled into their sleeping places, Luffy saying one more thing before they were both left by mommy and daddy. "Zoro f'l gud," Luffy said sleepily.

"I'll try, Luffy." And then the lights went out and both boys fell asleep.

Luffy woke up before Zoro the next day, and somewhat reluctantly left the room, holding onto the railings on the wall, going to mommy and daddy, but they weren't in their room and their bed was empty, except for Kaya sleeping on it. Luffy walked back down the hall and called mommy and daddy's names. He knew he wasn't supposed to be in a room by himself for some reason.

Sanji came down the hall and smiled at Luffy, who pointed to his room. "Zoro sick?" he asked. Luffy had tried to watch over Zoro in his dreams, but dreamt about Kaya flying. He must not have been very helpful…

"He's probably still not feeling very good," Sanji said nicely, but Luffy frowned.

"Win?"

"I don't know when he'll feel better, but he just has an upset stomach. It's nothing too serious. We should just let him sleep for a while," Sanji told Luffy, who was still frowning.

"Ah stay," Luffy said simply and walked back into his room to make sure his big brother was okay. Sanji knew Luffy shouldn't be alone in a room, which was basically true since Zoro was still deeply asleep.

"Okay, mommy will be here soon. I'm making breakfast," Sanji said.

Luffy made a frowny face. He wanted to be the one to help Zoro. But he also knew Zoro needed help from big people, too. The little boy nodded and slowly walked into his room, holding on to the dresser and then the railing. He had only stumbled twice in the hall, but had hurriedly gripped the wall before he hit the ground. He liked holding Zoro's hand when they walked more than the railing and wall.

Luffy sat on the bean bag chair, looking at his sick brother in worry. He wanted to go over and

wake him up to see if he was okay, but daddy said he needed to sleep.

A few moments later, Nami came in with a bowl with Luffy's favorite cereal in milk. She also brought a glass of water. Luffy gratefully looked at the food, before pointing to Zoro. "Food?"

"We'll get Zoro some food when he wakes up," Nami said sweetly. They were both being very quiet. Nami eventually ended up putting her laptop in front of the little boy and gave him some headphones to watch Teletubbies, as he requested; "Tubbies".

Zoro slowly woke up to the quiet giggle Luffy made in the corner while Nami was in the bathroom. Zoro realized he was starving, and was glad he didn't feel like he needed to throw up. Zoro deduced that he'd caught something from the doctor's office, even though that was quite a while ago; a few weeks actually. There really was no other explanation since he never went anywhere to meet potentially sick people. He was just glad it wasn't Luffy being sick.

The older boy shakily sat up and gave a forced smile when Luffy got up and quickly headed over to him. "I'm feeling a little better now," Zoro said. "Can you get mommy and daddy?" he asked.

Luffy nodded and bustled out of the door, concerning Zoro about Luffy tripping by going too fast. But it was only a couple seconds later that Nami entered the room, following after her youngest son.

"How you feeling, Zoro?" Nami asked, sitting next to him on the bed.

"I'm starving," Zoro replied. "And thirsty," he added. Nami told him she'd be right back and when she walked back in, she had a gatorade and informed him that Sanji would make him some broth. Though Zoro didn't want to eat broth and would rather have real breakfast, he knew broth would be the safest food for his stomach. "Alright."

"You should lay back down," his mom said. Zoro did as she suggested, making sure the trash can was in turning distance right next to the bed. Luffy got up and walked towards him, but not too close.

"I'm okay, Luffy. I feel better than I did before. Probably because you watched over me while we slept. Thank you," Zoro told him kindly, making Luffy look down, somewhat ashamed. He dreamt of Kaya, not Zoro. Zoro would be better if Luffy had watched over him in his sleep.

Speaking of Kaya, the cat slowly walked into the room and jumped onto the brothers' bed. Luffy smiled at her and pet her while he could reach her.

"Luf Zoro," Luffy said suddenly.

"I love you too, Luffy."

Sanji walked into the room with a tray with hot chicken broth and soft crackers on it, setting it on Zoro's lap once the boy sat up. "Thanks," he said to Sanji and tried his best to eat slowly.

The rest of the day was pretty slow and calm, and Luffy never left the bedroom while Zoro slept. Luffy napped as well, but Zoro slept almost all day. The littlest family member was told that it was good for Zoro to sleep all day so he could get better sooner. Nami and Sanji kept both boys company in the room, Nami eventually reading to Luffy quietly. Sanji sat against the bed next to Zoro, out of vomit distance that is. The two did their best to distract Luffy from Zoro's illness, but Luffy couldn't help but worry a lot. He couldn't ever remember Zoro being so sick or hurt.

The day was boring for everyone, and Zoro only woke up to use the bathroom or eat again. Broth, ugh. He was promised by Sanji that he'd have a larger and better breakfast once he was up to eating solid food. He didn't throw up again that day, which everyone, especially Luffy, was glad for.

Two weeks had passed since Zoro's sudden sickness, but Luffy didn't forget it. Zoro wished he did, because Luffy was obsessed with making sure Zoro was okay. At least every fifteen minutes, everyday, Luffy would look to see if Zoro was okay, no matter what they had been doing, together or separately. Part of Zoro was honored and happy Luffy was so keen on him being okay and not sick, but the other wanted his little brother to stop worrying about him.

Luffy only had two seizures in the two weeks, and both seizures had lasted no longer than ten seconds. Every time one of them caught Luffy staring off into space and blinking rapidly, they were immensely glad that Luffy had the more harmless seizures. But they couldn't help but worry that after one of his short seizures, he'd have a bad seizure and he would get scared and hurt.

"Zoro, how does Luffy handle multiple people at once?" Nami asked one day at the dinner table. "We want some family members to meet you two," she elaborated.

"He's usually pretty friendly with everyone. He was only withdrawn at the doctor's because he was at an unfamiliar place. I'm sure he'd enjoy meeting new people. As long as they're not super loud."

Sanji chuckled. "Guess Garp with have to be quiet for once."

"Garp?" Zoro questioned.

"I'll give you information about everyone. Garp is my step-father. Nojiko is my sister, the one with a disability. Genzo is my biological father. Usopp is Luffy's age and he's my nephew, Nojiko's son. Robin is my aunt, but she'd out of the country for a while. Those are my closer relatives who would like to meet you two," Nami finished.

"What about Sanji's family?" Nami's face hardened.

"We don't talk about them," she said darkly. But then Sanji said, "It's fine, I'll tell him." Zoro listened seriously, but still kept an eye on Luffy while he ate.

"My whole family was quite abusive. They never wanted me, as my other siblings were all more… worthy of being called sons and daughters. Like you two, I ran away from home, and no one came looking for me. I disowned them a very long time ago. I'd never let them meet you and Luffy, even if they wanted to. So, we have something in common," he told Zoro.

"Thanks for telling me," was Zoro's reply. Sanji smiled at his response.

A week later, Luffy napped on his bean bag chair while everyone waited for the family to come over. He was sleeping with his thumb in his mouth and his arm curled around his plushie and under his special blanket. Zoro was sitting next to him, back against the bean bag chair and reading. He was a bit nervous to meet their new extended family and nervous about how they would react to Luffy. Nami told him that everyone coming over knew about Luffy's problems, but to see Luffy in real life? How he has to be guarded constantly and doesn't act his age at all? Zoro was afraid Luffy'd get rejected. And he hoped they didn't stay for a meal and see Luffy make a mess.

Zoro tensed when there was a knock on the door, it was quite loud in the quiet of the house, so Luffy woke up, too. Like he had been doing for a while now, he immediately looked to Zoro and said, "Kay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Luffy. We're gonna meet some new family now. Just be yourself, okay?" Zoro said kindly. He didn't want Luffy to be nervous. But Luffy wasn't nervous at all. He liked new people because new people meant new friends. And Luffy didn't have many friends. Zoro's heart was beating really fast.

"Hi, dad," Nami said as she welcomed her father into the house. All the family hadnt come together in the same car, so they would trickle in, hopefully helping the boys not be stressed with a plethora of strangers who knew all about them but they knew nothing about at the same time.

"Hi, sweetie," Genzo said and kissed Nami on the forehead. "Now where are my new grandsons?" he asked happily.

"They're in the living room. Don't be too loud, since Luffy isn't a fan of shouting and loud sudden noises." Genzo nodded and walked down the hall and into the living room. But he didn't need to go in all the way because Luffy and Zoro were standing near the entrance.

Luffy had a curious content smile on his face as he looked up at the unfamiliar man. Zoro was holding his hand nervously. Luffy, of course, was being the definition of cute as he held onto his giraffe and his blanket dragging behind him. Genzo squatted so they were eye level.

"Hi, there," he said, sounding friendly. Luffy waved and said, "I Luffy," without even being needed to asked. "Hello, Luffy. My name is Genzo, but you can call me grandpa." Then he turned to Zoro, who held out his hand and shook his new grandpa's hand.

"I'm Zoro," he introduced himself nervously. Then Luffy suddenly and quickly walked away, pulling Zoro with him. Luffy turned around to look at his grandpa as if asking why he wasn't following. Genzo smiled and walked after the two.

Luffy lead him to his blocks and sat down, handing him a single block to play with as an invitation, like he had with Nami the first time they met. Zoro smiled as he sat next to him and the three built towers. He was glad Genzo said nothing of Luffy's visibly slightly shaking hands. Genzo also didn't act like it was weird when Luffy stopped playing to look at the other two when he heard a clinking noise of glass, only coming back when Zoro reminded him of the blocks he was playing with. Maybe their new family could be understanding. Zoro hoped so.

Genzo had been playing with Luffy for around fifteen minutes before the door was knocked on again. Luffy looked up. Was he supposed to greet new people? Would more people want to play blocks with him?

"You can stay here. We don't have to greet all of them," Zoro said kindly. Genzo spoke up and said, "Let's keep playing. I'm sure they can come in themselves." Zoro smiled at the man. He knew that Genzo was the father of a disabled person. Though Nojiko acted more normal now, before her medication, she apparently was a mess. Now she could function on her own and had her own job. Zoro wondered if it could ever be that way for Luffy. Well, that was a long time away. Zoro didn't need to worry about the future yet.

Nojiko and Usopp walked in. To say there was a difference between both four year olds would be an understatement. Nami and Sanji sometimes forgot how different Luffy was for his age. Usopp was easily almost a foot taller than Luffy, and they were both almost the same age. Usopp was just four months or so older than Luffy. Sanji couldn't help but look back and forth between both four year olds.

Nojiko hadn't seen Luffy yet, even in pictures. Nami wanted everyone to see Luffy's cuteness in person. When Nojiko and Usopp walked into the living room, they looked over the edge of the couch to see a very small black haired boy playing with Genzo and an older, green haired boy sitting with both of them. No one had seen Zoro either, and were interested that he had green hair, though they couldn't really say anything because Nojiko's hair was purple.

"Mommy, why's he so small?" Usopp asked Nojiko once he saw Luffy. Usopp had been told Luffy was the same age as him, but that couldn't be true because Luffy was too small to be his age!

"Well, when Luffy was a baby in his mother's tummy, something went wrong, and so he doesn't grow at the same pace as other little boys. He also has a harder time speaking, so be patient with him, okay?" she explained. Usopp didn't need to know about the alcohol's involvement.

"Okay," Usopp said. He walked to Luffy and sat down. Genzo had moved away to go see his other daughter.

"Hi, I'm Usopp," the other little boy said nicely to both brothers.

"I Luffy. Dis Zoro," Luffy said happily, pointing to Zoro with his little arms.

"Hi, Usopp," Zoro said. "I'm eleven, by the way. Do you want to play with Luffy?"

"Sure! What do you have to play?"

Luffy was the one to reply. "Lots! Fafots is blocks, colohs, ball, 'n mofie." Usopp had trouble understanding him, so Zoro leaned over and translated what Luffy had offered (blocks, crayons, ball and movie).

"Le's play with a ball!" Luffy nodded enthusiastically and stood up with help from Zoro.

"Nami, Sanji, can we go outside?" Zoro called from the living room to the adults in the kitchen.

"Sure, but make sure to put on some jackets and shoes," Sanji answered. The three boys did so and went outside to play.

"Well, he is adorable," Nojiko said, making sure to watch the three play through the sliding glass window. "Why does Zoro call you by your names?"

"Luffy is not mature for his age, and Zoro is too mature for his age. Certain family circumstances has made him a bit older in the mind than a normal eleven year old," Sanji explained. He wasn't going to go in detail to the brothers' past circumstances. "So Zoro calls us by our names and Luffy calls us mommy and daddy. Zoro is basically Luffy's first parent, so we can trust him to be alone with Luffy and supervise him himself."

"So what kind of medication is Luffy on for the seizures?" Genzo asked. They all knew about Luffy's mental problems, and that he had epilepsy.

"Zarontin. The side effects are him sometimes becoming very hyperactive and running around, which is why there are pillows scattered around the room, and he gets pretty sleepy sometimes, and takes naps throughout the day. Luckily, those aren't too bad of side effects," Nami replied.

"You are very lucky that he only has absence seizures. It could have been a lot worse."

"Tell us about it," Sanji said with a sigh. They all watched Luffy try his best to toss the ball, but he wasn't very good at it. Luckily, Usopp was having too much fun to notice. Both four year olds were laughing; well, Luffy was quietly giggling. Zoro was smiling from his position next to Luffy.

Then it started to snow outside, to Luffy's delight. The ball was soon forgotten while the three boys watched the snow in wonder.

Nojiko smiled at Nami's fond expression. "I'm really glad you both found children to love." She put an arm around her sister.

"Yeah, me too."

"God, I hope Garp doesn't scare them. You know how damn loud he is," Genzo said.

"Yeah. Luffy doesn't cry much, but I don't know how he's gonna react to Garp. He's a very gentle little boy. He was really mellow before his medication. But Zoro got sick a couple weeks ago, and ever since, Luffy has been asking him if he is okay, or making sure he's not hurt. He's just so cute!" Nami squealed at the end. "And he gives the best little hugs," she added.

"Just curious; how much does he weigh?" Nojiko asked. She wanted to compare Luffy to Usopp's measurements.

"He's 31 pounds, and 30 inches tall. We don't know how big he'll get," Sanji answered. They all looked out to the boys and saw Zoro crouching next to Luffy with his hand on his shoulder as Luffy obviously had a seizure. He really didn't have them much anymore. Sanji walked to the door and asked Zoro if Luffy was okay. Luffy, of course, had no idea anything strange had happened. When he began to shiver, Zoro suggested the three go back inside, Zoro telling Sanji Luffy was fine, and that this one only lasted seven seconds.

Once Luffy's shoes were off, Zoro walked over to get his favorite blanket and wrapped it around Luffy's small body. He noticed Luffy's eyes were getting droopy. His last nap had only been a few minutes. Luffy knew he wanted to sleep, but there were people over. Could he still sleep?

"Mommy, I nap?" Luffy asked. Before Nami answered though, Zoro was already leading Luffy to the squishy bean bag chair.

"Of course, Luffy. You don't need to ask, sweetie," Nami replied.

The other adults were still thinking of Luffy's seizure. The two felt bad for the little boy, and found themselves utterly despising the two childrens' biological mother. She caused this little boy so much damage by being selfish and abusing alcohol.

Luffy fell asleep easily, unlike when it was bedtime, and snuggled with his stuffed animal and special blanket.

"Mommy, can I have a nap, too?" Usopp asked as he looked at sleeping Luffy. A nap sounded nice right now. Of course, Nojiko's reply was the same as her sister's, and Usopp headed for the couch and fell asleep as well.

Neither four year old woke up from the harsh knocking on the front door. The two had been napping for around twenty minutes before the last guest arrived. Very loudly.

Sanji hurried to the door to stop the obnoxious pounding. Once the front door was unlocked and opened, Sanji came face to face with Nami's stepfather, a very large man with gray hair and a wide grin. "Sanji! How are my new grandsons?" he practically shouted.

"Garp shut up!" Sanji whisper/shouted. "Luffy and Usopp are sleeping, and Luffy is afraid of loud noises. Just be quieter," Sanji demanded and let them man in, closing the door behind him.

The moment Zoro saw Garp, he knew this would somehow go wrong. The man was very large and buff. He looked menacing, even with the grin plastered on his face. Zoro found himself inching closer to Luffy slowly, eyes narrowed, until he was in front of his sleeping baby brother.

"That them?" Garp asked loudly. Zoro ground his teeth together at how loud and inconsiderate this old man was being. Luffy made a noise in his sleep. He had obviously heard the loud noises coming from their step-grandfather.

"Yes, that is them. Zoro is the older one and Luffy is the little sleeping one. Don't be your usual loud self," Nami told her step dad. She saw the defensive look on Zoro's face from across the room. She had a bad feeling about this for some reason.

Zoro really didn't want Luffy waking up to this loud man, so he was going to gently and quietly wake him up so he was prepared to meet this guy consciously.

"Well, isn't he cute. My new grandson! Bwahaha!" Garp laughed ridiculously loudly. Zoro cursed when Luffy's eyes snapped open at the loud noise. He sat up quickly and looked around in alarm. "Oh look, he's awake!" Garp shouted once again. Now all of the adults were trying to get him to shut up, but he was too excited to meet his new grandsons.

Luffy looked across the room at the man who was loudly approaching him. This man was HUGE. Little Luffy could get squashed by him! All hell broke loose when Garp suddenly bent down to pick Luffy up, reaching his huge hands out. Luffy didn't like being carried, let alone by massive, loud strangers!

Luffy screamed in fear and slipped between Garps legs and did his best to run away, but he was slow and clumsy. Zoro was beside him in an instant, scooping him up and sprinting in the direction Luffy was fleeing to; their room. Zoro shut the door behind them and locked it, pulling poor Luffy under the bed with him to help his little brother feel safer. The poor boy was sobbing loudly. "Scawy!" he cried.

Zoro just wrapped his arm around Luffy and started to sing Luffy's song, but the little one kept crying in fear. That was really scary! Why did that man come after Luffy? They don't even know each other. Zoro continued to comfort his baby brother, steaming in anger at that old man. What a good first impression.

"GARP, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Sanji shouted. Garp looked confused as to what happened. Nami had run down the hall after her sons, but the door was shut in her face and locked. She could hear her poor baby crying, muffled from either being under the bed or in the closet. She was furious. She wanted Garp out. How dare he do this to her babies?! And everything was going so well! Luffy made a friend his age and then to be awoken from a nap like that?

"What happened?" Garp asked stupidly.

"You scared the shit out of Luffy! We told you over and over to be quiet and even told you he freaked out from loud noises! Then you do this?!" Sanji fumed. Genzo and Nojiko were not impressed either, and Usopp was close to tears after hearing all the screaming going on.

Nami was in momma bear rage when she entered the room. Sanji had never seen his wife so furious. Her face was red and she looked murderous. No one said anything to her, and just moved out of the way as she approached her step-dad.

"Get out," Nami growled at him. Garp looked confused and started to talk, but Nami wasn't having it. "I said get out!" she shrieked at him.

"But-"

"Go away!" Nami shouted, practically shoving him down the hall and to the front door. After getting him out, she slammed the door in his face and locked it. She breathed heavily for a moment, trying to calm herself. Nami wanted to cry. The look she saw on Luffy's face was pure terror and panic, and the look she saw on Zoro's face was cold fury and fierce protectiveness. No, Garp wouldn't be coming over any time soon. She knew he hadn't meant to cause this mess, but her babies came first.

The mother walked down the hall and to Zoro and Luffy's bedroom door. "He's gone now, and not coming back any time soon. Please come back out when you are ready," she said calmly and softly and then walked back into the kitchen. She knew Luffy and Zoro wouldn't be out anytime soon.

Nami collapsed onto a chair and put her head in her hands. Sanji was right next to her, rubbing her back.

"I think it's best that everyone leaves," the woman said tiredly. "Come back another day."

"But mommy, I want to see Luffy and Zoro again," Usopp complained. But Nojiko and Genzo knew they should leave. They both felt sorry for the boys now hiding in the bedroom.

"We can come back and visit again soon. When Luffy is feeling better," Nojiko said kindly to her son, but also a bit sad as well. At least Usopp made a good impression on the boys. Before the two left, Genzo kissed Nami on the head and told her to call soon when the next time they could get together was.

The house was quiet once the front door closed. Nami and Sanji just went into the living room, Sanji starting to prepare for dinner. They had no second thoughts about having breakfast for dinner. Especially with pancakes and bacon, which was Zoro's favorite.

It was around an hour after everyone left that Luffy was brave enough to leave the room. He slowly peeked his head out of the now open doorway and looked both ways to make sure the big man wasn't waiting for him. But the hallway was empty and quiet. Zoro walked with Luffy, holding his hand, as they headed for the kitchen and living room. Luffy peeked his head around this corner as well, and was relieved to find no one was here except mommy and daddy.

"Daddy," Luffy said, alerting both adults that their children had left their room. "Scawy gone?" He rubbed his fingers together in anxiety.

"Yeah, the big, scary man has gone. He won't come back anytime soon. Promise," Sanji said as he crouched in front of Luffy and Zoro. Luffy held out his pinky for a  _super_ promise. Sanji smiled softly and joined his much bigger pinky with Luffy's.

"Luffy," Nami said as she approached him and Zoro. "Are you okay?" Luffy nodded. "I'm sorry he scared you so much."

"That was your step-dad? Is he always that obnoxiously loud?" Zoro asked, sounding bitter at the man, angry that he ruined the first meeting with their new extended family. At least Luffy made a friend and had a short play-date before the mess.

"Yes, he is. And he rarely pays attention to important things. He gets too caught up on things he wants to think about the negative repercussions of his stupid actions. I'm so sorry about what happened. I'm so sorry he scared you, Luffy," Nami said sadly.

"He big," Luffy replied. That really scared him. His hands were so big they could squeeze Luffy and hurt him. "I small."

"Yes, he's quite big," Sanji replied, setting food on the table. Zoro picked Luffy up gently and set him onto his chair and put his food shirt on. "Despite his demeanor and vibe, he really is a nice man when it counts. At least he is with little children. I'm sure he wouldn't do anything to you, Zoro." This confused Zoro and made him suspicious of the man.

"What do you mean?" Zoro questioned, starting to eat. Nowadays, Luffy didn't choke on his food much, or as often as he had, so Zoro didn't look at him the whole time. He just glanced at the little boy often to see if he was okay. It would be more convenient if Luffy sat across from him, but Luffy became upset when he wasn't sitting right next to Zoro. There was added caution from Sanji and Nami sitting across from him.

They were told by Zoro that when Luffy starts to choke, it sounds more like hiccups, and that's it. He doesnt bang his fists on anything or call for help.

"He can be rough with older people. He doesn't seem to know how to control his strength. But, he's never hurt a child. Especially a baby or toddler. He made a terrible first impression. That makes me very sad. He was super excited to meet you two. Do you think, in a while, he could try and meet you two again? A second chance?" Nami asked, hoping so much that the two would give her step-dad a second chance. He had called to talk to Nami, but Sanji spoke to him instead since the mother had still been upset. He had apologized over and over, and Sanji felt pity for the older man.

"What do you think, Luffy? Can you give the big man a second chance? He's part of our new family," Zoro said kindly. Luffy had stopped eating his giant stack of pancakes from being full and very satisfied. He didn't know if he wanted to see the big man again. He was very scary!

"I do'h know…" Luffy mumbled.

"You don't have to decide now, sweetie," Nami told him kindly. Luffy nodded and drank his juice from his sippy cup. His attention strayed as he watched the snow gather on the ground outside, covering the grass he and his new friend played on. Luffy was happy he talked with Usopp.

"Uso fun. I like him," Luffy said happily, wanting to play with him again. Maybe they could play blocks or tag! Luffy couldn't wait to be with his new friend again. Everyone smiled at him, glad  _something_ good came out of today's mess.

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***sigh* Can't you just imagine Garp doing that?**

**After this chapter, Usopp is in the story more as Luffy's close friend/cousin. Review please. Oh, and Luffy and Zoro's first Christmas is coming up. Fluff galore.**


	9. Crismis

 

 

**Thank you for leaving reviews! Omg so many it, made me so happy! It's been a bad day, so even revisiting the review you guys left me made me feel a bit better.**

#### Nihl: You're english was just fine! Thank you for the review. I'm glad it seems original. I don't even remember how I came up with the concept. It was a long time ago.

####  **Princess_Meria: Thank you! I'm really glad I didn't over-adorable Luffy. At least so far.**

**TinyPotato02: Thank you so much for the kind review! I'm glad you really like it.**

**Aerith_joey: Thank you. There's even more family love in this chapter. After all, it's Christmas time. I think you'll like this one with the presents given. Very fluffy.**

**Charmandapanda: Thank you, I'm glad you like it!**

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**The chapter title is spelled wrong on purpose. Very fluffy chapter. The holiday may seem out of place a bit as I had already finished everything and decided I needed to at least include one Christmas holiday. Enjoy~**

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Two days after the small family gathering, Luffy had his first grumpy day at his new home. Zoro was surprised it hadn't happened yet. Multiple times. The day started by Luffy waking up before Zoro, pouting at nothing in particular. He turned onto his side to face away from Zoro, angry at what, he didn't know.

Zoro woke not long after him. The moment Luffy didn't turn around when Zoro said his name, Zoro knew he was having his first fussy day at their new home. He wondered, and worried, about how Nami and Sanji would react. Luffy was like a completely different person when he had a grumpy day. Zoro put his hand gently on Luffy's head and rubbed his scalp softly, which he knew Luffy liked sometimes when he was grumpy.

Nami walked in when Zoro and Luffy hadn't come out of their room for breakfast at the usual time. When Nami entered the room, she saw Luffy's disgruntled pout, and how he turned away from her when he saw his mommy. He didn't want anyone to bother him. He only wanted Zoro. Nami felt hurt by what Luffy had just done. Zoro saw this.

"Don't worry. It's nothing personal, I promise. Luffy is just having a fussy day. We'll probably stay here all day. Can you bring us our meals? Luffy gets very upset when he is forced to leave the bed," Zoro explained, as Luffy pulled his pillow out from under his head and covered his ears with it. It was strange for Nami to see Luffy in a bad mood. But she knew it was just part of Luffy's problems. Now that she thought about it, he hadn't had a grumpy day since the second week before the two were officially adopted. Zoro had told her and Sanji that. Oh well. It was one day, then he'd be back to his happy self… right?

"Alright, that's no problem. Do you want food now?" she asked, trying to sound normal, but it was hard when she heard Luffy whining in what she could tell was irritation and annoyance. He wanted Nami out of the room.

"Not yet. Maybe in an hour," Zoro told her. He knew Luffy enough that his brother didn't like eating right away. He didn't know for sure, but he had a feeling Luffy just was too grumpy to enjoy any food and now that he was a little older he didn't want to waste the food. But that was just a theory Zoro had. It could be completely wrong.

"Okay," Nami said and left the room to go tell Sanji about Luffy's sour mood.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" Zoro asked Luffy softly. The little one had taken his pillow away from his ear the moment Nami left the room and shut the door.

"Mmhm," Luffy replied quietly. "Mommy mad?" he asked just as quietly.

"No, mommy isn't mad," Zoro said, slightly surprised that Luffy even cared if Nami was upset at the moment. But he really shouldn't be surprised since things now were very different than they had been the last time he had a fussy day. "Let's go back to sleep. I'll wake you up when breakfast is ready. Okay?" Luffy nodded and the two fell back to sleep, Zoro holding Luffy close.

Nami sadly walked into the living room, surprising Sanji since she had just gone to see two of her three favorite people.

"What happened?" Sanji asked, concerned. He left the kitchen to sit on the couch next to Nami.

"Luffy is having a fussy day. He glared at me," she said quietly. Sanji smiled sadly and put his arm around her shoulders.

"You know it isn't personal, right? This is just something his brain does sometimes. Zoro has him today. He's been helping Luffy through these days since Luffy was an infant. Come tomorrow, Luffy will be back to his normal self and zoom around the room happily and giving you hugs. It's not personal," Sanji said kindly.

"I know… but to see him look at me like that and get irritated with my voice stung a little bit."

"Maybe someday when he has a fussy mood, you'll be the one he comes to."

Zoro was impressed with how Nami and Sanji handled Luffy's uncharacteristic bad mood. Luffy ate his food, looking at it angrily though it tasted yummy, and slept most of the day. Zoro didn't sleep all day because he wasn't tired, so he laid on the bed next to Luffy and read his book above him. Zoro was glad he wasn't the kind of person who needed a ton of different things to do to keep himself entertained. Just reading and doing stuff with Luffy was enough for him. He and Luffy weren't very needy or expensive kids, which he knew Nami and Sanji were glad for, though he knew they had a lot of money despite the smaller house.

By the time is was bedtime for Luffy, he didn't seem angry anymore. He looked more…  _sad._ Zoro wondered why, but didn't ask. Luffy was changing into new pyjamas since he'd been in last night's all day. His pyjamas were red shorts with a cotton shirt that had a cat's face on it. Zoro was glad all it took to put Luffy to bed was putting on the music during and after reading him  _Goodnight Moon._

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"Crismis?" Luffy asked as Nami turned on music. What was Crismis? He turned to Zoro in question. He didn't remember a holiday like that. Zoro gathered him in his lap as Nami and Sanji put up the big tree.

"It's a time where you have yummy food and presents. We decorate the whole house in pretty lights. And then, on Christmas eve, a man named Santa Clause comes and brings presents for good little boys and girls.

"But, you have to be asleep when he comes. If you try to stay awake, he won't come. And, he has to eat cookies, too. And milk."

Luffy's eyes sparkled. "How?" he questioned. How would a man sneak in with big boxes? He had boxes as presents for his birthday. Big ones! Was it magic? Like daddy's apple trick?

"He comes down the chimney," Zoro replied, pointing to the fireplace. "It's magic, and he comes here in the sky, on a sleigh powered by animals. He brings presents to all the children in the world all in one night!" Luffy gasped. That sounded crazy! He looked to the fireplace. Would the man fit? But then, Zoro had said it was magic.

They turned to the tree, where Nami and Sanji were wrapping lights around it. "Alright, you two. Time to decorate the tree!" Nami said brightly. Their first Christmas together. They would make it special. She brought out a basket of plastic and rubber ornaments for Luffy to put on the bottom of the tree, while Zoro could decorate where he could reach.

Luffy stood up and walked to the tree with Zoro, hands joined. Luffy picked up a plastic deer and looked to Zoro, not knowing what to do. The boy smiled at him and moved his hands to situate the decoration onto the branches. They hung by large, thick rope or hooks to make it easier for the little one.

Luffy got the hang of it and was able to put six ornaments on it, the rest he couldn't get on, and became sad and stopped. So Zoro put the decorations where Luffy pointed them to go.

The rainbow lights turned on, dim but flashing slowly, and Luffy gasped. It was getting dark out, so the lights on the tree lit up much of the living room. He "wow"ed quietly. The parents smiled at him. Hopefully Luffy and Zoro would have a fun,  _real_ Christmas.

"It's not only presents and the decorations, Luffy. We get to make sweets, and candies. We can even build a house of candy," Sanji said, earning wide eyes from the boy.

"Really?" Luffy questioned.

"Really," his daddy replied.

Christmas music filled the house on the days before the holiday, and Luffy helped decorate the place. Nami and Sanji never really decorated for Christmas by themselves, but now they had a reason to, and they went all out, buying hundreds of dollars worth of decorations. Everything from stuffed animals, to wall figures, to posters, to clothes and blankets.

Luffy hung his own stocking above the fireplace, lifted up by Sanji. It was velcro for Luffy, so it was easier for him to stick it on. Zoro was still sometimes amazed by how considerate Nami and Sanji were to Luffy's difficulties. It had been a couple months, and still Zoro was surprised. And very thankful.

That night, after turning on the Christmas music, the four ate a pasta meal, Luffy's favorite pasta dish. His eating shirt had food on it by the end, but that's what the shirt/bib was for after all. "For Christmas Eve, we're having family come over. Then, Christmas day, we'll have all to ourselves. When everyone comes over, they bring their presents. Which means, we have to get them presents as well," Nami explained.

Luffy's eyes got wide. Going where the big people are? No, he doesn't want to. The others saw this, and Sanji was quick to clear it up. "We'll be buying presents online, so we don't have to go out to get some." Luffy wondered what "online" meant.

"Online means we pick it in the house, and it magically appears at the front door," Zoro clarified. There was no need to explain the internet to the four year old. Luffy smiled. More magic! "Who is coming over, Nami?" the older boy asked.

"Well, so far it's Robin, who you haven't met yet, Grandpa Genzo, autie Nojiko, and of course Usopp," she said. Then she quietly told Zoro that Garp was going to briefly come, just to drop off his own gift. "We've decided to wait until Luffy's a little older to see him again." Zoro nodded, thinking it was a good idea.

"Dessert?" Luffy questioned. The others praised him for the full word, gaining a toothy grin.

"How about some ice cream?" Sanji asked, knowing full well Luffy would make a mess. Luffy nodded excitedly. Ice cream was the best!

It was the day before Christmas Eve that the family were cooking for the big dinner the next day. Mostly sweets and desserts. After everything was in the fridge, the parents called their boys over to a big box on the table, a large gingerbread set.

"What is it?" Zoro wondered as they were all sat. None of the previous homes that celebrated Christmas at all had anything like this.

As Sanji opened the box and took the supplies out, he explained that it was a gingerbread house. "We're gonna make it into a house. I'll set it up, and then we can all decorate it. Watch closely, Luffy. It's very cool," Sanji said as he glued the slabs of gingerbread together with frosting. Luffy and Zoro watched in interest as the house came together quickly.

Nami smiled and laid out all of the candy decorations. There was left over frosting to glue. Zoro made patterns on the surface with the frosting, before he made little dots of the sweet glue for Luffy to put the little gumdrops and other candies onto the walls and roof. Nami and Sanji constructed the little chimney, making brick patterns with the frosting. It only took an hour to decorate the whole thing, and all of them enjoyed it.

Luffy wanted to eat it then, but it was for everyone tomorrow. He could wait. He was excited to see Grampa again. He was a nice man. And Usopp was coming over, too! Luffy really like his friend and cousin.

The presents had come that day, all at once. Robin was bought a set of books, Genzo was bought some new cooking supplies and cookbooks since he had picked up cooking after seeing how happy Sanji made Nami with the good food. Nojiko was bought a new printer that she'd desperately needed, and Usopp was bought a set of legos.

Then there were the gifts picked by Luffy and Zoro. Luffy picked a hat for each person, all different shapes and colors. Zoro bought each of them gift cards to places the parents said they liked. He couldn't think of anything else original, so why not gift cards?

Luffy and Zoro didn't know the presents they got for themselves. But when their Christmas Eve presents were delivered, they were sent out of the room so the parents could wrap them in secret.

Luffy was brought into consideration when he was given gift bags for his hats, instead of failing at wrapping. Zoro's presents were each in little holiday themed boxes.

The brothers were excited for all of the presents. Zoro knew there would be more "from Santa" the next morning. He'd never believed in Santa, for he never came when Zoro was a child, because his parents didn't bother with presents or festivities.

The family of four were all wearing Christmas sweaters, while Luffy wore a very floppy Santa's hat. Nami wore some fabric deer antlers on a headband. Zoro and Sanji didn't wear any hats. The first to come was Genzo, and Luffy waited in the living room for the others to come. When grandpa came into view, Luffy yelled happily. "Grampa!" the little one shouted, carefully getting off of the couch, though he stumbled, Genzo reached him before he face planted.

Luffy was such a cute grandson. "Hey, Luffy! Merry Christmas. Look at all the presents I brought," Genzo said, pointing to the pile he'd set at the tree. Luffy's mouth opened in surprise. Just by adding all of his gifts, the tree's base looked even more full.

"So m'ny," Luffy said with a grin. Zoro was sitting against the couch watching Luffy. The boy turned to Zoro and pointed at the presents. "I see them. And even more are coming," the older child said as Nojiko and Usopp walked in. Luffy walked to Usopp and opened his arms for a hug from his friend.

Usopp hugged Luffy, bigger than his little cousin. "I brought you a present, too, Luffy," Usopp said, showing a squishy looking wrapped present. Nojiko set some more down, and told Zoro he had some as well. He grinned and thanked her.

Those who had come besides Sanji were all sitting on the carpet in the living room, talking and laughing. Luffy said, in his slurred and childish way, that they made yummy food for everyone. They all understood him, which was nice.

The next to come was Robin, a tall woman with black hair and a straight nose. Nami walked to Luffy and Zoro, telling them there was someone to come see them. Zoro picked Luffy up as they walked around their family, and were introduced to Nami's aunt.

"Hello, Luffy, Zoro," she said kindly, crouching down so she was closer to little Luffy's height. Luffy said hi, and Zoro shook her hand like he had with Genzo when they first met.

"It's nice to meet you," the green haired child said.

"Oh, there's no need to be so formal," Robin said with a smile. "But it is nice to meet you as well. I haven't met you two before, so my presents might not be right for you. You can always return them if you wish."

"Oh, ok," Zoro said. He didn't know how to respond. He wouldn't want them to return anything because that was rude, but he didn't disagree with her out loud. Luffy had seen Zoro, and stuck out his little hand to copy him. Robin said nothing of this one, and took his tiny hand and shook it gently.

"We haf lo's of presents," Luffy told her with a grin. Zoro praised his whole sentence, and they all walked to the living room, which was quite crowded now. Sanji and Genzo had moved the couch out of the way and more towards the dining room to make more space. The table had a section in the middle that elongated it quite a bit that they added, so more people could fit. They also had the bar counter for more people to sit.

Everyone had chosen to have the dinner here for Luffy. Zoro was glad that even their new extended family was kind and considerate. It was such a huge relief.

The last to come was the quietest to come; Garp. Nami approached him sadly once she opened the front door to him. "Hey Garp," she said quietly. The man looked very sad. He was being excluded from the family Christmas after all, though he understood why. He knew what he'd done was definitely the wrong thing.

He had been so excited to meet his new grandchildren, and he blew it. Big time. "You can come bring the gifts inside. We have some for you as well. Just know that Zoro's is as a joke," Nami warned with a chuckle. Garp wondered what it was.

When Zoro had picked it out, both adults had laughed. It was a children's book about how to use your "inside voice". Luffy was sitting on the carpet in his brother's lap, his floppy Santa's hat sliding down his face. He kept having to readjust it.

When Garp walked past the others and to the tree, he set down the bags gently. When Luffy saw him, his eyes grew as wide as saucers. He remembered this man. From… somewhere. He was scared of him. Too big, much too big. Garp gently waved at Luffy, who just looked confused.

"Luffy, wave to him," Zoro said in his ear quietly. Luffy put up his small hand and waved it, before staring at the man as he got out of his view. Zoro frowned, feeling bad for the man. But, at least he got a hat from Luffy as well.

Dinner was quite a loud event, and Luffy still wasn't aware that his eating was out of the ordinary, and no one said anything of his messy eating of the cranberries, as the meal was reminiscent of Thanksgiving. Even Usopp didn't look at him strangely. Mostly because he remembered what his mommy had said. That something went wrong with Luffy as a baby in his mommy's tummy.

When they had the dessert, Luffy said that he helped make the gingerbread house proudly. Even though it had been fine before, after everyone took a piece, it fell apart. Luffy's lip wobbled. It hadnt clicked that they'd be breaking it apart and eating it. Zoro patted his arm gently, and whispered in his ear, "We got pictures, so now let's just enjoy eating it. Huh?" Luffy nodded, lip not wobbling anymore.

It was tasty, but afterwards, Luffy's shirt was covered in crumbs. He kept looking at the big pile of presents in the other room.

"Are you excited to open presents, Luffy?" Robin asked sweetly. Luffy nodded his head with a smile.

"Dere is lo's!" The others smiled. Luffy really was a likable child.

"And there's gonna be even more when Santa comes," Genzo said. Usopp and Luffy grinned, looking overjoyed.

Nami and Sanji knew that Luffy and Zoro had never had real Christmases, so this would be special for them. That's why they spoiled the boys so much. Their first Christmas was going to be memorable. They'd make sure of that.

When the time came to unwrap presents, Luffy and Usopp ran to the tree, Luffy not holding Zoro's hand and face planting. He sat up and rubbed his nose, before Nami helped him up and they went to the tree together. No one said anything of Luffy's trip, which Zoro was thankful for, though they did look slightly worried.

But Luffy said nothing of it, so no one else did either. Plus, they already knew about his clumsiness, and he didn't get hurt. He sat next to Usopp, closer to the tree than Zoro was. The presents were distributed to everyone, with Luffy and Zoro having the most. All of their family knew that the boys had never had a real Christmas, and just like their parents, the family made sure to spoil them with what they'd never had.

Usopp frowned a bit, but mommy had told him that his cousins would most likely have the most presents, and that that was a good thing. The children unwrapped theirs first, while the adults took pictures. Most of the presents for Luffy were thoughtfully put in bags, but the ones that werent were helped unwrapped by Zoro.

Luffy got a plethora of toys. Robin had bought him presents specifically for special needs children. Like simple puzzle toys, and a weighted blanket, along with putty. Genzo had bought him two new coloring books and glitter crayons, as well as some stickers to put on their windows. Mostly giraffes, since everyone was told was Luffy's favorite animal.

Nami and Sanji bought the boy picture books, special headphones for him if he needed to cool down or be in his own little world, and some nice therapeutic pillows.

Nojiko and Usopp bought him clothes and hats. Zoro was the one to pick out a little telescope since he had liked looking at the stars when they were at their biological home. They spent a lot of time outside there, even at night.

Zoro got many books, gift cards, clothes as well, and some posters and other Harry Potter decor. But what he liked the most was the biggest and heaviest present from Nami and Sanji.

When he opened it, his breath caught. He unwrapped the scrapbook that said "Baby Brother" on the front. When he opened it, the first page had a handwritten message of, "We will always cherish you two, as much as you cherish Luffy."

The second page had a big number 3 on it, followed by pictures of Luffy and Zoro at the foster home. Luffy wandering around with his Lion King blanket, being read to by Nami, grinning next to Zoro, and pictures of him sitting with his big brother, showing the love in both brothers' eyes. Then, the section for 4 had pictures of Luffy at their new home, even if he was hiding in Zoro's chest, when he played with Kaya the first time (who was laying under the tree the whole time), Luffy's birthday, and his little smile once he finally saw the whole house.

Zoro bit his lip, trying his best not to cry.

These people cared so much about him and Luffy that it was hard to believe. Even months after they were adopted, Zoro was still shocked with their love and compassion for such a troubled pair.

"Th-thank you," he mumbled, coughing and pretending that his eyes were itchy to get rid of the tears. The rest of the time that the others opened presents, Zoro looked at the pictures of his tiny brother when they'd first met Nami and Sanji. Zoro didn't even know they took that many photos of Luffy while they visited.

He was so glad that they did.

By the time everyone was done opening presents and playing and then watching a movie, Luffy was exhausted. So, he and Zoro went to bed right after they said goodbye to everyone. Zoro turned to the side, and said, "Thank you Nami, Sanji. For making Luffy's first Christmas special."

"It was your first Christmas, too. It wasn't just for Luffy," Sanji said with a soft smile. Zoro looked down and nodded, leading Luffy to the bathroom to brush their teeth. It had been the best Christmas that Zoro could have hoped for, and the best family he could imagine them being adopted into.

Right before Luffy fell asleep, Zoro told him that Santa would have brought presents in the morning. Luffy fell asleep smiling.

When they woke up the next day, Luffy before Zoro, Luffy exclaimed. "Presents!" and hurried off of the bed. "Change your clothes first, Lu," Zoro said kindly. Luffy quickly changed what he could, which was zip up his shorts while Zoro had to dress him other than that. Then they both headed out into the living room to see a small pile of presents under the tree, with a half eaten cookie and empty glass of milk in front of the fireplace.

"Look, Santa ate that cookie!" Zoro said. Luffy rushed over to it and inspected it. It was just a cookie. He popped it in his mouth. Zoro laughed and lead Luffy to the table. They'd open the presents after breakfast, which Sanji was cooking, watching Luffy from the kitchen.

"Was the cookie yummy, Luffy?" the man questioned. Luffy nodded his head. "Mmhmm!"

"I made that just for Santa," Sanji replied. Luffy's eyes widened. Was he in trouble if that was Santa's cookie?! Sanji noticed this and reassured him that Santa left it over just for Luffy the next morning.

The breakfast was very quiet compared to the dinner. "Did you two have fun yesterday?" Nami asked. Luffy and Zoro both nodded.

"I like ahre famly," Luffy said with a grin. "Dey nice." Zoro nodded in agreement.

"I'm glad you like everyone."

The presents that morning were mostly things they could share to decorate their room and bathroom, along with bath bombs and colored bath bubbles.

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**Poor Garp. :( But isn't the gift Zoro got so cute and heartwarming? And, awww, he cried. He loves Luffy so much. <3 **


	10. Dif'rint

****Hiddlesthug: Fluff heals the heart. <3** **

**Aerith_joey: Sadly, Garp is not in the story until his own tiny chapter at the end. I actually sort of forgot all about him! But, people really want Garp to make up for his mistake. So I added something else, though it didn't fit anywhere in the story, so it's a tiny one-shot at the very end. Only five chapters left though, so not too bad of a wait.**

**BlueSkidoo: <3 <3**

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**This chapter has some angst in it, while also having family vibes. It shows how different Luffy is from others his age in this chapter. Poor baby. Enjoy~**

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"Luffy, Usopp's birthday is coming up. Do you want to invite him to have it here?" Nami asked Luffy as Luffy colored at the kitchen table. Ever since Christmas two months ago, Luffy had grown even closer to Usopp. They had many playdates after Christmas.

"Birfday?" he asked excitedly. Cake? Presents? But it was  _Usopp's_ birthday. That meant… he got presents! Luffy could get him a gift. But what would he want?

Usopp and Nojiko had come over often to have Usopp play with Luffy and Zoro. The two four year olds liked to color together, and made a lot of pictures for their parents, so now both houses had a plethora of scribbled pictures on their refrigerators. Nami, Sanji and Zoro were happy Luffy had made a friend.

Apparently, told by Nojiko, Luffy was Usopp's favorite friend, because he had many from their neighborhood. He liked Luffy the most because Luffy didn't shout and was really gentle with others and never hurt the toys Usopp brought over. He also never hogged anything and was very good at sharing, unlike some of Usopp's other friends.

"Presents?" Luffy asked.

"Yes, we're going to pick something out at the toy store," Sanji said.

"I go! I pick!" Luffy said excitedly, not paying attention to his drawing anymore.

"Luffy, it's going out in public. Lots of big and loud people there," Zoro told him gently. "You might get scared."

"I big boy I c'n do it!" Luffy said loudly. He really wanted to help get Usopp a present. He couldn't be scared. For the sake of his friend. Zoro pursed his lips, not sure if Luffy was emotionally ready to go out in public.

"Are there any smaller toy stores? I don't want him starting out in a big, busy place," Zoro told his parents quietly as Luffy went back to his drawing of an apple. For some reason he liked drawing different kinds of fruit.

"Yeah, there are some knickknack stores we got his birthday presents at. We can go there," Sanji said, also quiet.

"I hate to say it, but do you have any type of harness? I don't want him wandering off, so we can attach the harness to my belt loop or something. I'm sure he won't even notice it," Zoro asked them. He knew Nami and Sanji wouldn't have an uncomfortable harness, if they did have one.

"I think we have one. We bought it just in case it was ever needed, before we even knew we couldn't have kids," Sanji said, leaving the room to find the object.

Zoro turned to Luffy again with a smile. "Alright, let's go change into clothes to go out in public. Big boys don't wear pyjamas in public," Zoro joked.

"I big boy!" Luffy chirped. His speech was getting clearer the more they taught him. He was happy himself that he could communicate verbally. He also liked the praise he was given during their speech sessions, along with the small rewards.

"Then let's go," Zoro said, picking Luffy up to set him down from his chair. Though Luffy was a "big boy", he still held Zoro's hand when they walked. Nami and Sanji were considering getting him some physical therapy to help him have smoother and more steady movements. If he did well out in public at today's outing, they'd consider it more as an option that could actually happen sometime in the future if he did improve.

Fifteen minutes later, Luffy was wearing a small backpack with a strap around his front. The backpack had Luffy's purple pom pom that was bought for him in it, since his stuffed giraffe couldnt fit, and he felt he needed something from home. But he was still a big boy.

Luffy backpack/harness had a short strap that was clipped to Zoro's jean's belt loop. Luffy was excited, but also becoming nervous. But he could do it, and Zoro and mommy and daddy were there if he got scared.

Luffy had a determined face as he was buckled into his car seat. He had protested taking off his backpack, so he was still wearing his harness as they drove into the city and to a shopping center that wasn't too busy. It was a Monday morning, most adults at work.

The shop they parked in front of was small and cozy looking. Right next to it was a music store, and across the parking lot was an ice cream shop. Luffy practically had stars in his eyes when they entered the store. There were so many toys! What would he pick for Usopp out of all this?

Luffy bustled around the isles, holding Zoro's hand as they looked at all of the toys. Luffy would ask what things were, and if they were fun. He really wanted some toys, but it was for Usopp, not him. He didn't know Nami and Sanji were thinking of getting Luffy his own present for his speech improvement.

After looking all over the store, and held up to look at the top shelves, he finally picked Usopp's present. It wasn't what you'd think a kid would get another kid for his birthday. He chose a pair of fluffy green socks with pugs on it, because Usopp liked dogs.

"Dis is gud!" Luffy said, handing Nami his chosen present. Sanji was somewhere else in the store, finding his and Nami's gift for Usopp. He picked a large pack of colored pencils, since they knew someone was going to get the boy new crayons.

"That's a wonderful gift, Luffy," Nami told him and put the small socks into their shopping basket. "You can pick a present for yourself for being so brave to come out in public and getting so good at talking." Luffy wasted no time pulling off another pair of fluffy socks, though these ones were purple and had cats on them.

"Now we mach," he said decisively. Zoro was beaming the whole time, so proud of Luffy's progress. Luffy had seen more little boys and girls at the shop, and happily said hello to all of them. For the longest time, Zoro thought he'd never be able to have any close friends. He was glad he had been so wrong.

Surprisingly, Luffy didn't want ice cream. He didn't want to be sticky. So he was given a colorful lollipop, which he was excited about. He was still the family's little ball of sunshine.

When they all got home, Luffy almost immediately took a long nap, wearing his new socks. Facing away from Nami and Sanji, Zoro couldn't help but cry silently a little bit. He had been so scared that Luffy would never be brave enough to go anywhere or have any friends. And here he had just gone shopping for a best friend. He ran his fingers through Luffy's clean hair from a bath earlier.

That morning, he had taken his first bath with Nami. Of course Zoro didn't stay in the room with them. But he sat against the wall in the hallway. They left the bathroom door slightly ajar, with Zoro's foot visible through the small crack so Luffy was sure his big brother was near. Nami had played with him with floating toys in the bath, and ended up entertaining him by playing with shaving cream, painting pictures on the bathtub wall, and making Luffy's hair stand up to a point.

It had been cold and snowing a lot for the last couple weeks, which Luffy enjoyed and got distracted with all of the time. He had built tiny snowmen in the backyard, with the other three building their own ones, which were bigger and less messy. But of course, Luffy was happy with his and didn't compare the qualities of all the snowmen. He loved his life now. People loved him and he got good food and had fun, too.

Because Luffy had done so well in public and said that he could handle it, they decided they would have Usopp's birthday party at his own home. Nojiko had told Nami not to worry about the other kids being mean to little Luffy because they were all usually nice. None of them were as sweet and kind as Luffy, but most four year olds weren't like Luffy. He was going to come over earlier than the others so he and Usopp could color for a little bit. Zoro was planning on not playing with the kids, but watching Luffy while he did so and looking out for him if the little one needed help with anything.

The day of the party, Luffy dressed in what he said were big boy clothes, which were just white capris and a blue short sleeved shirt, a red hoodie on top. He said the shirt was for big boys because there was no picture on it. He made sure to wear his fluffy cat socks so he could show Usopp that they matched.

When the family entered the house, Luffy hurried forward to take his shoes off, and then latched to Zoro's hand.

"Usopp!" Luffy called, able to pronounce his name correctly now. "Happy birfday!" The birthday boy came running down the hall and called Luffy's name. They hugged and Luffy ran after him into the family room where the decorations were set up. Zoro followed very closely behind, ready to help if Luffy stumbled, which he did as his toes caught the edge of the carpet in his hurry. Usopp said nothing because it wasn't weird to him anymore. He'd seen Luffy be clumsy countless times, and it was normal and fine since Zoro had almost never failed to catch or steady him.

"You more big now!" Luffy said as the two sat at their plastic little kid's table and drew with the supplies already set out for the duo. "But I uh big boy, too. You just more big."

"I'm five now. I hope I get good presents. Mommy already got me one and it's a set of toy animals, like you have. We can use them together now," Usopp told him happily. Zoro sat on the couch in the corner, reading the first book of a new series he had gotten, but still kept his Luffy-sense sharp. He had a talent for reading while also completely focusing on what Luffy talked about.

It was about a half-hour later than there was a knock on the door, followed by a lot of young voices talking with each other happily. "My other friends are here!" Usopp called and went running off to greet all his party guests. Luffy hurried the few feet to Zoro.

"Can we go ofer dere?" Luffy asked his brother.

"Alright, but remember, Luffy. There are lots of kids, so Usopp can't focus on you the whole time. Maybe you can make more friends!" Zoro told him, making himself sound very encouraging, while on the inside, Zoro was nervous. He didn't know how the other kids would react to Luffy. He most certainly didn't look his age, and the way he spoke was much further behind all the other four and five year olds. He hoped the kids would be nice. Zoro knew he couldn't bite their heads off, no matter how much he might end up wanting to. They were kids, like Luffy. They would be afraid if Zoro went crazy overprotective brother on them.

"Kay!" Luffy chirped. The two brothers walked down the short hallway. Luffy became slightly nervous when he saw how many kids there were. And they were all bigger than him. He thought it was only Usopp who was bigger. Luffy furrowed his brows.

"Why I more small?" he turned and asked Zoro. But before Zoro could come up with the response he'd been practicing for years, Usopp called Luffy over. Luffy let go of Zoro's hand and carefully and slowly walked to Usopp.

"Everyone, this is Luffy. He's my friend and cousin," Usopp introduced happily.

"Hi," Luffy said, sounding somewhat shy. Why were they all bigger? Usopp looked at him strangely. Luffy was never shy. The other kids looked at him and smiled, all introducing themselves. Luffy relaxed a little bit, and gave a real smile. Zoro was relieved when the other kids welcomed him. They went off to play outside, but Luffy stood still for a moment. He needed Zoro when he went outside because the ground was uneven. And Luffy didn't want to fall in front of them. Then he wouldn't seem like a big boy like all of the other kids. Zoro came up to him and crouched.

"You can do it. Walk slowly and carefully. If you do fall, pick yourself back up if you don't want to hold my hand," the older brother said to the younger.

"Will dey care if I hold yer hand?" Luffy asked nervously.

"I don't know, Luffy. But everyone is different. You are just a bit smaller and clumsier. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, I bet none of them could build blocks as well as you do. Everyone is different in different things. Promise. If you need me, just call my name. Okay?" Zoro asked. Luffy smiled at his words and said, "Kay".

Luffy walked out to the back yard to play with the other kids. Zoro followed close behind, but not as close as usual. He watched from the doorway, ready to be at Luffy's side at a moment's notice. Zoro was growing worried when they all headed to the small swing set Nojiko had bought Usopp a few weeks ago. Luffy had never been able to get on because he couldn't reach, and had to be placed on it by someone in his family. He had never thought twice about it. But all of these boys close to his age easily sat on it. Luffy felt himself growing very confused. All the adults noticed from the dining room. Nami bit her lip at the expression on her baby's face.

Usopp noticed, too. "Luffy, are you coming?" he asked. Luffy licked his lips and tried to not look nervous while he tried to walk normally to the swings. He didn't attempt to climb onto the swings because others were on them and he knew he couldn't get on anyways.

_Everyone is different,_ Zoro's voice said in his head.

"Hey, Luffy?" one of the bigger kids said. His name was Khoza and he was a six year old. "How old are you?" he asked, meaning no offense.

"I four," Luffy replied, watching the others swing and play around. Luffy was sitting awkwardly near the base of the swing set, unsure about how to join in.

"Really?" Khoza asked in surprise. But he said nothing else after seeing Luffy nod.

Zoro stood against the door frame, chewing on his bottom lip, like Nami and Sanji were doing. They were worried now. Luffy had done well one-on-one, but what if that was it? What if he wasn't comfortable in a group of boys his age? Well, his age  _technically_. Luffy still had the mentality of a very young four year old or even a three year old. He also wasn't as good at grammar as the other kids.

Nojiko was patting Nami on the hand, trying to calm her and reassure her sister that the children were nice. Nojiko had told all the parents to tell their kids that Luffy was different and smaller, but not to say anything about it. The other mothers came over to Nami and said things like "Don't worry, they'll be fine and nice to Luffy" or "It'll be fine. My boy won't bring anything up".

Luffy sat next to the swings watching Usopp play with his friends. He wished Usopp would come talk to him. He was feeling uncomfortable. Finally it became too much for him.

"I haf to go to da bafroom," Luffy said quickly and hurried across the lawn to Zoro. Zoro noticed the stumble, but before it became apparent to anyone but him, he had a gentle hand in front of Luffy's stomach to stop the impending fall.

Luffy didn't need to use the bathroom. He wanted to take a break, but didn't know how to say so. Zoro knew this and took Luffy's hand and lead him inside and down the hall, where the bathroom was.

Once the two reached the hall and were out of view from anyone else, Luffy sat down against the wall. Zoro sat next to him and put his arm around Luffy's shoulder. Luffy's lower lip wobbled. He was too small. And why did he talk different?

"Zoro? Why I dif'rint? Why I small an talk dif'rint?" he asked, looking at Zoro's sad green eyes.

"Well, Luffy, when you were a baby, you were born prematurely. That means you were born too early. You were a very small baby. That isn't your fault, and lots of babies are born like that. You also just don't grow as fast, and there's nothing wrong with that. And you know you couldn't talk for a long time, right? They just learned a bit earlier than you. That's all," Zoro told him gently. Then he added after a moment of silence, "We can always go home if you need to. You can see Usopp anytime. You can give him his present tomorrow or something. I'm sure he'd understand if you don't feel good."

But before Luffy could reply, Usopp came hurrying down the hall. "Are you okay, Luffy?" he asked. "You look sad."

"I too small to swing," Luffy said dejectedly. "I too small to play gud." He lowered his head. "I dif'rint…"

"We don't have to play on the swings. We can go inside," Usopp said, worried about his best friend and cousin. He didn't want Luffy to feel sad at his party. "It's too cold out anyways," he added. He knew Luffy was different. But he didn't know Luffy didn't know that himself.

"Kay…" Luffy mumbled as he followed Usopp, holding onto Zoro's pant leg. Zoro was thankful Usopp had come and said that.

It was apparent that the majority of the other kids knew Luffy was sad and was acting a bit nervously. He was rubbing his fingers together and frequently looking behind him to Zoro, getting reassuring nods and encouraging smiles.

Even when they were all coloring in coloring books, all not very good, they were nice to him. He ripped his pages often, which is why Luffy always drew on card stock. He was feeling embarrassed. Something he'd never felt before and didn't like it. He wanted to go home, and refused to eat in front of everyone. He knew he made a mess, and though it usually didn't bother him or his family, he was having a feeling that he was different in that aspect as well. He hated being so self-aware. And there  _has_ to be something wrong with him because none of the other boys tripped when they walked.

By the time it was time for Usopp to open presents, Luffy was near tears. Zoro was sitting next to him, holding his hand while Usopp unwrapped presents. When Usopp opened his, Luffy forgot to tell him they matched because he was feeling so down.

"Thanks Luffy!" Usopp said. "We match now." Luffy smiled and nodded silently. He felt good when Usopp pulled off his plain white socks to wear his new fluffy ones. All the other kids bought Usopp toys and Luffy bought him socks. But Usopp liked them, so he was right to buy special socks, even though the others thought it was a weird choice as a present.

By this time, all of the younger kids were sleepy, and Usopp wanted a nap as well. Luffy thought that this was a good time to leave. He pulled on Zoro's sleeve and asked, "C'n we go home now?"

"Yeah, we can go home now. Do you want to get a slice of cake to eat at home?" Zoro asked nicely as he held Luffy's hand and they walked to Nami and Sanji. The little one nodded. He had wanted to eat the cake, and almost did, but then he noticed that the other little boys were all being mostly neat and clean. They werent making a mess like Luffy would. And he had been really hungry, too. Luffy also couldn't sit at the table without his special seat.

"Ready to go home?" Nami asked sweetly, like it was completely normal for him to sneak away during nap time. Luffy nodded sadly. Nojiko crouched down to his level and said, "Why don't you come back over when you're feeling better?"

"Kay…"

That night hadn't been easy to fall asleep. Luffy was still thinking about how bad he felt today. He really was different. Thankfully, when he had these sad thoughts, he was easily distracted by things happening in the environment around him, like birds out the window, or dust in the sunlight.

Luffy didn't bring up his feelings, but Zoro just knew what he was thinking about. Zoro had told Nami and Sanji about Luffy's insecurities at the party. But of course, they could do nothing about Luffy's size or how big he was going to grow. And they were having "lessons" for his speech most days. They had become more like structured, two-sided conversations with rewards.

Luckily, like most times, after a while, a short while, Luffy bounced back to his cheerful self. He still thought he was a big boy, even if he was smaller, and would try to do things himself. He spent ten minutes trying to get onto the couch himself, not using the step stool before he eventually gave up and headed to the bean bag chair, slightly disappointed. But he knew no matter what, he was going to be a big boy. Like Usopp and his friends. Then they would all like him, too, and they could all be friends!

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**Even if Luffy has trouble with others his age, at least he has Usopp! And another friend later on, with a twist on said friend. Review!**


	11. Nightmare

#### Nihl: Thank you!

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**I love torturing my characters with bad dreams. Most of my fanfictions have some sort of bad dream to add to drama. Poor Zoro! Enjoy~**

**P.S. Today is my first day of school, so I'm submitting this really early. Wish me luck!**

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Usopp called Luffy in the morning, asking him if he was okay. Nojiko had explained to him that Luffy wasn't feeling well and left during the kids' nap. Usopp's feelings were hurt at first, but then he remembered how sad Luffy was at his party. Usopp didn't want Luffy to be  _forced_ to be there, but he wished he wanted to be there himself. Usopp wanted to play with his toys with Luffy. Next time he would.

Luffy had mumbled a sad apology about leaving, but did not go into details as to why he left. He couldn't remember the details too well. Just that he was sad he was different and couldn't do the same things as the other boys.

Usopp asked if he could come to Luffy's house and bring some new toys. This cheered Luffy up because he had seen Usopp get a pack of small plastic dinosaurs. Of course, Luffy didn't know what dinosaurs were, but they looked cool.

A couple hours before Usopp came, Luffy was zooming around the living room, excited to see Usopp. He was claiming he was "cleanin" while he organized his toys like any young child would do; tossing them in piles in corners. He was told by Zoro not to stuff the toys under the couch or between the cushions. Like the majority of the time, Luffy did as Zoro said and didn't put the toys anywhere near the couch.

Soon after his burst of energy died out, he took a nap with his blanky and giraffe. When Usopp was dropped off (Nojiko had work at her job at the bookstore) and saw Luffy sleeping, he patiently waited for the little boy to wake up. If he didn't have enough sleep, then it was harder for him to play a long time, and tag wouldn't work if he was too sleepy. Usopp seemed to naturally treat Luffy younger than him, more than a couple months younger. But the boy still liked his cousin a lot.

While Luffy napped, Usopp told Zoro and the two others about how the kids reacted when they found out Luffy had left.

" _Where did Luffy go?" Usopp asked, looking around._

" _He wasn't feeling good today, so he had to go home. He wants to play with you again when he feels better," Nojiko explained._

" _He was sad…" Usopp said, sounding sad himself. "I should'a spend more time with him." Usopp felt bad. He was having so much fun with his other friends that he didn't notice Luffy's behavior other than his frown for a moment. He didn't even notice how close Luffy was to crying while the birthday boy opened his presents. He was just so excited with opening his gifts._

" _Is he coming back?" Khoza asked. He wondered if he had hurt Luffy's feelings about asking his age._

" _No, not today. We are going to set a playdate for him and Usopp sometime soon," Nojiko said._

_The other kids looked a little sad. Luffy seemed like a nice kid. They wished they'd gotten to know him more since he was Usopp's cousin and closest friend. Then everyone realized they'd barely spoken to him at all. Khoza was the only one and he only asked one question._

" _We have another little party thingy and he be there," one of the youngest of the group said. He wasn't much older than Luffy, but he could talk better and was more seemingly developed in the brain. All of the kids were. They secretly all wondered what was different about Luffy. And why didn't he want to swing?_

" _Why didn't he swing?" an older boy asked for all of them._

" _He said he's too small to swing," Usopp said sadly. Poor Luffy._

" _Well, someone could have picked him up," Khoza said._

" _Why did no one help him?"_

" _He didn't ask."_

" _He has to be pushed to be able to swing since his feet don't touch the ground."_

" _It's too late," Johnny, one of the other five year olds, said._

_Then the group of kids went back to playing with Usopp's new toys. Usopp looked at Luffy's present on his feet for a moment, but then went to play with his other friends._

"I think you should tell Luffy that. Though he doesn't really remember all of the details of the party. I think he just remembers he should be a big boy. But he was thinking that before also. I don't know since he's never been around others his age, and I've never been there to observe," Zoro said.

"So basically it's uncharted territory?" Zoro nodded, looking over to Luffy, who was still sleeping, curled up on his sleep chair.

"He's lucky," Nami said, thinking of when she found out she couldn't have a baby, and had been depressed for a long time. But now, she found that a blessing, because she wouldn't have found Zoro and Luffy if she had had her and Sanji's own biological baby.

Luffy woke up around half an hour after he began his nap, and was momentarily disoriented. Then he smelled Sanji's cooking and hurried off his bean bag chair, not noticing Usopp was at the kitchen table coloring while waiting for Luffy's nap to end. Luffy was dragging his Lion King blanket slowly as he entered the kitchen.

"Daddy, is dere food?" he asked, hungry after his nap.

"Not for a while. I'm making a chicken dish that will take a bit of time. You can snack on some carrots or Cheerios," Sanji offered. Luffy smiled and asked for carrots.

When the veggies were handed to him, Sanji told his son Usopp was here.

"Here?" Luffy asked. He couldn't see Usopp anywhere. Was he playing hide-and-go-seek? But he wasn't because he walked into the kitchen from behind the counter. Luffy couldn't see over the counter because of his size. "Usopp!" he cheered. Usopp smiled and hugged his small cousin, who had dropped his blanky in the kitchen and went to the living room to play with Usopp's bag of toys, the carrots forgotten. Zoro picked the blanket up after him and laid it down on the bean bag chair that Luffy favored.

The little boys played for a few hours, Zoro joining in eventually. Luffy really liked all the toy dinosaurs. Zoro wondered if he'd be a dinosaur-obsessed little kid because he kept asking what type of dinosaur was. Of course Zoro couldn't answer because he had no clue. He was never one to like dinosaurs, especially when he had almost zero time to be a child.

Plus, through the years, he'd acquired very little toys. And he gave all of his toys to Luffy as a baby, who ruined most of them from chewing on them when Zoro was distracted, or throwing them at the walls when he was still trying to learn how to control his limbs properly or had a really bad fussy day. So Zoro's toy source had been very limited, and now he felt no desire to buy any. He only played with Luffy for Luffy. If he had more time to himself, he'd probably do what he always does: read. Not that he resents Luffy.

By now he had a bookshelf full of books. The lower shelf had all of Luffy's picture books, the original one worn and the corners of the pages rounded.

Eventually, Usopp and Luffy wanted to watch a movie about dinosaurs, so they watched an old cartoon show with dinosaurs. The adults were sure a film showing what dinosaurs  _really_ looked like would frighten both of them.

So Luffy and Usopp made up the time they lost to play together at Usopp's birthday party. When Luffy's best friend told him the others were sad he left, it didn't make Luffy happy. He felt a bit ashamed.

"I sorry I gone away," Luffy said sadly. "I was sad. I cou'n't do anyfing right." Luffy frowned at his small fingers.

"It's okay. We can try again next time!"

"Kay," Luffy said, and both dropped the subject while they went back to coloring. Usopp was scribbling what was supposed to be a dinosaur while Luffy, like always, was drawing food. Luffy had a fun time with Usopp, and the boy only left when he was getting hungry and tired. Then Nojiko came to pick him up after her shift at work.

"Bye Usopp!" Luffy called and waved from the doorway, his other hand joined with Zoro's. Usopp waved back from his car seat in their car.

Luffy napped for much of the day after cleaning up their mess, which was returning toys and crayons to their respective piles, though not in the same ones. Usopp had given Luffy one of his many plastic dinosaurs and it was on the lower shelf of the TV stand so Luffy could look at it whenever he wanted.

" _Zoro, I c'n walk myself. Is on'y little ways away," Luffy told his brother. They'd been in the front hard playing with the snow, both bundled up in thick, cozy clothes and boots. The mailman had just come and Luffy had offered to get the mail from the mailbox himself. Zoro was debating whether to let him. But he decided Luffy would be fine, for if he did fall, he'd fall on the soft snow._

" _Okay, but be careful," Zoro told him, ready to try and catch his brother if he fell. Luffy happily made an agreement noise and waded through the snow, having some trouble because of how little he was and how much he was sunk into the white stuff._

_He reached the mailbox and went on his tiptoes to pull the door down and pull out the mail. Predictably, the little boy dropped some of it. When he leaned over to pick the papers up, he slid across the not-snow-covered area of the sidewalk and down into the street._

" _Zoro, I stuck!" Luffy complained, trying to crawl his way back to the sidewalk, but couldn't find any purchase on the frozen pavement. Luffy didn't realize the danger he was in by being in the middle of the road, which was icy. Zoro ran as fast as he could to get Luffy out of the street._

_Luffy didn't look up when a car came speeding towards him. "Luffy! Move!" Zoro shouted, trying to get to Luffy before the skidding car came too close. But Luffy was too late and was hit and thrown twenty feet from where he had been, landing hard and rolling on the street. Thankfully, he broke no bones, and when Zoro finally got to him, Luffy was awake._

_But all was not well. "Mah head hurts," Luffy complained. Zoro shushed him and said he was going to bring him back inside, but then blood started to drip out of the little boy's ears. Luffy's pupils were changing size, and Zoro was now panicking._

" _You'll be okay. I'll get you inside, and we can call 911," he rushed, then shouting for help. But he watched Luffy's eyes look past Zoro and at the clouds and unfocus. But he wasn't just spacing out. He was... gone. Zoro screamed "No, no, NO!" over and over again, sobbing his heart out, holding his dead baby brother -_

_Zoro gasped in bed and sat up stiffly. He looked around in panic for a moment before realizing he was in bed, and that had been a bad dream. But where was Luffy? Zoro turned the nightstand lamp on and saw Luffy across the room, wrapped in his special blanket while building a tower with his blocks._

" _Luffy, what are you doing over there? Why aren't you sleeping?" Zoro asked, though he was just glad it had been a dream. Luffy wasn't dead._

" _Why you not safe me?" Luffy asked with a pout._

" _What?" Zoro asked, getting a bad feeling._

" _You say I be okay… I not okay," Luffy said, and then suddenly wasn't there anymore. His blanket fell down from the empty air, and the blocks were knocked over._

" _LUFFY?!"_

Zoro woke up suddenly, extremely disoriented. He'd never had a dream inside a dream like that. Then he remembered the awful dream and felt Luffy was next to him. Zoro had to roll over to sob into his pillow so Luffy didn't wake up and become concerned.

Zoro ended up crying for over an hour, seeing Luffy's dead eyes and hearing the feeling of betrayal in his voice when he asked Zoro why he didn't save him. He didn't fall back asleep for the next eight hours, wrapped around Luffy as the little one slept peacefully, unaware he had just been the main character in a tragedy.

Luffy woke up around nine and yawned around his thumb in his mouth.

"Morning, Luffy," Zoro said, giving a somewhat sad smile to the boy when he turned around to look at Zoro.

"Mohning," Luffy said around his thumb. No matter how many months they'd been teaching Luffy to speak, he still had trouble with "th" and "v", and sometimes "r". And past and present tenses, but they knew those would take a while.

"Guess what?" Zoro asked. Luffy perked up. A surprise!

"Wat?"

"It's been almost a year since we met mommy and daddy. Do you want to help me make a surprise card?" Zoro said happily, though he was still exhausted and had trouble seeing Luffy in front of him,  _alive._  That dream really messed him up. Luffy noticed the droopy eyes of his brother.

"Ahre you sleepy?" he asked innocently. Zoro widened his eyes to seem more awake.

"No, not really. I'm fine. Do you want to draw and I'll write?" Zoro asked, trying to change the subject so Luffy wouldn't worry. Zoro didn't want his brother to start asking if he was okay every twenty minutes again.

"Yah!" Luffy cheered. He and Zoro changed into day clothes and Luffy put his special socks on. When the two walked into the kitchen, Sanji and Nami were both drinking coffee at the kitchen table, looking like they were doing the bills. Nami always looked really angry when they did taxes and bills. It made Luffy sad.

"Mommy mad?" he asked, staring up at her from the floor. She hadn't noticed Luffy was there and jumped a little bit. Then she smiled.

"No, I just don't have fun with doing this stuff." Then Luffy completely spoiled his and Zoro's plan.

"We are making a suhprise card for you about we meet a year ago," he blabbed. "I color an Zoro write." Nami and Sanji held in their laughter, looking at Zoro and then changing their expressions. Zoro looked pained at Luffy. Then they noticed how he had circles under his eyes.

"Did you not sleep well?" Sanji asked. Zoro pursed his lips.

"I don't want to talk about it," Zoro said curtly, trying to relax his face into a neutral expression. But Luffy was continuing to talk about the "suhprise" card they were going to make. Then, some part of him realized that he'd just said some stuff he wasn't supposed to.

"Oh no, I told duh suhprise!" he exclaimed with a horrified gasp. "Fohget, fohget!" he yelled at her. Nami smiled and said, "What was Luffy talking about? I can't remember." This pleased Luffy, who looked like the situation had been saved because mommy forgot. It had everyone looking at him fondly.

"Let's go color in the living room," Zoro said and lead Luffy to the coffee table, holding his hand tightly. Zoro tore out a sheet of paper from Luffy's little drawing pad and said, "What do you want to write?"

"Say 'we happy we come here an luf mommy an daddy an daddy makes yummy food'." Zoro wrote down as his brother spoke. He left a lot more space on the sheet of paper for Luffy to draw on. Zoro then left his own message on the back of the paper. It took him a little longer to figure out what to say than Luffy did. Finally, he decided he'd keep it short.  _Thank you for saving us_. He felt that covered a lot more than just saving them from sickness or Luffy's physical problems. Zoro had nothing but Luffy for three years. That's all he had and felt all he needed. Now he had a family, Luffy, stability, safety and happiness.

He loved Luffy, but he was never truly happy with them just being only brothers. They weren't children, or cousins, or nephews, or grandchildren, or any part of a family. It was just them. And now that Zoro looked back at a little under a year ago, he realized how lonely he had been. And he'd needed help. But now he got it and was happy where he was. And where Luffy was because he gets to be someone's child from an early age. He finally got a good mommy and daddy.

Luffy talked about what he dreamt about last night as he drew on their card. He had much more pleasant dreams than Zoro had. He told Zoro that he had a dream about dancing with Usopp and that "all a da sudden!" Luffy was in a flying car. As he recounted his fun dreams, Zoro tried to keep his tears under control. He couldn't get what dream Luffy said to him, with such disappointment and accusation, out of his mind.  _Why you not safe me?_

It felt like a knife in his heart and he wanted to forget all about that terrible nightmare.

"An den dere was a elifant- wat's wrong?" the little one asked, seeing Zoro shed a few tears. Stupid tears that should have just stayed in his eyes. "Why you crying?" Luffy asked in concern. Zoro never cries.

"I- I'm just so jealous of your dreams! I had a bad dream," Zoro said truthfully, but was in no way going to go into detail about what it was, especially with Luffy.

"You 'kay?" Luffy asked in concern, walking over to Zoro to give him a hug. He was surprised when Zoro hugged him back so tight. Like he never wanted to let Luffy go.

"I love you," Zoro said against Luffy's small shoulder.

"I luf you, too," Luffy said with a smile. When Zoro let him go, Luffy wandered back over to the coffee table to draw more on their card, picking up where he left off about the elephant entering his dream.

"Something is wrong," Nami said as she watched Zoro and Luffy in the living room. "Zoro is acting strange."

"I'm guessing he had some sort of nightmare. That's why he has bags under his eyes. And it had something to do with Luffy probably."

"Why you crying?" the parents heard Luffy question. They couldn't see Zoro's face from here.

"I- I'm just so jealous of your dreams! I had a bad dream," Zoro said, obviously lying. Well, the first part. It was clear how tight he hugged Luffy that Zoro had a bad nightmare. The two looked at each other in concern.

"I'll ask him about it later, during one of Luffy's naps," Sanji told Nami. She nodded and the two returned to their work.

"Win we give card to dem?" Luffy asked as he looked at his finished product. Zoro was not surprised it was food, but Luffy had made a group of food Zoro assumed was them. A banana for Sanji, a tangerine for Nami, what looked like an apple for Zoro and a little blueberry for Luffy. It was actually pretty well constructed.

"We have to wait till the anniversary date. So in eight days," Zoro replied.

"But dat's so long!" Luffy complained.

"We have to wait so it will be a real surprise. They won't be expecting it if we wait." Luffy agreed somewhat grudgingly, before he invited Zoro to play with him. Luffy had a lot of toys now, but his favorite were still and probably would always be his blocks. He'd gotten very good at creating buildings and towers, not knocking them down nearly as often as he had a couple months ago. His spacial awareness had improved a bit.

The block city was around ten towers that all looked different. Then the brothers knocked them down so they could try and build really tall ones. It turned into a competition that Zoro won, not giving Luffy a handicap for once.

Luffy frowned, but then had a look of determination. "I win nes' time," he vowed.

"It's a deal," Zoro said. He heard Luffy's noisy tummy growl and asked, "You wanna have breakfast now?"

"Yah!" Luffy cheered and stood up, hiding their card under the couch, thankfully not crumpling it too bad. Zoro gripped Luffy's hand tightly again and walked with him the short distance to the kitchen and dining room. "Daddy! C'n we have pancakes?" Luffy called as he tried to walk up to his seat, having had stacked heavy books on top of each other. Big boys get in their own chairs. But he had no luck, and Zoro caught him when he fell over the side of the improvised staircase.

"I'm out of pancake mix this morning since we had some last night, but we have waffles, bacon and eggs," Sanji said as he cooked bacon for Zoro. He could just tell that it would be a stressful day for the child, and wanted to do his best to make it better, even if Zoro didn't share what was bothering him. What was making him stare at Luffy like he was the only person in the world.

"I haf waffles!" Luffy said enthusiastically, though he wanted pancakes more. "Blueberry ones, please."

"You pronounced it right! Good job," Nami said kindly. He'd usually left out the "L" in the word.

"Danks," Luffy replied happily. He liked being praised. That was part of why he tried hard to be better at grammar, though most of the time, unless he was told, he didn't notice he'd said something wrong.

Luffy napped in Nami's lap on the couch. He still fit easily into her lap. She actually didn't like this. It meant Luffy hadn't grown at all in almost a year of knowing him. She wondered, like she had so many times, how big he would be. There truly was nothing they could do to make him get taller.

Zoro had been unable to see Luffy sleeping. He'd only seen Luffy dead with his eyes  _open_ , but he was still so… still. Luffy didn't tend to toss or turn in his sleep, and Luffy being asleep looked like Luffy being  _limp._  So Zoro was facing away from him, on the other side of the living room. He was still in his brother's sight if he woke up, but Zoro just couldn't look at his little brother like this. He hoped these terrible feelings wouldn't last much longer.

Nami watched TV with the volume low while Luffy slept in her lap.

Sanji walked up to Zoro and sat next to him, handing him a mug of coffee.

"I hate coffee," Zoro told him. Sanji knew this, so why the coffee?

"I can't exactly give you any alcohol but hopefully this might help," Sanji explained, drinking his own mug of coffee.

"I wouldn't drink alcohol even if I could," Zoro said, somewhat bitterly. But not at Sanji.

"Then you should get hooked on coffee.  _Sometimes_. Not all the time like older people," Sanji said, following his plan of getting Zoro to open up by idle chatter. He knew if he just went up to him and asked what was wrong, Zoro would brush whatever it was off as nothing, when it clearly was the opposite.

"What do you want for dinner?" Sanji asked.

"We just ate breakfast. Why are you thinking about dinner already?"

"Well, gotta move on, right?" Sanji asked, sipping his coffee, making sure not to watch Zoro's face. But Zoro was smirking.

"That was smoothe." Zoro said, taking a gulp of the coffee. "Ugh, this is disgusting," he said and set the mug down on the mantle of the fire place he'd been leaning against.

They were quiet for a moment. "Do you still not want to talk about it? I won't tell anyone else, not even Nami if you don't want me to," Sanji told him softly, still not looking at his face, trying to be non-obtrusive. He knew from experience that Zoro didn't like doing things under pressure.

"Luffy got hit by a car and died in my arms," Zoro said stiffly. Then, for some reason, he continued because it was apparent that Sanji wasn't going to interrupt. "I've had nightmares where Luffy gets hurt, kidnapped or even dies, but this one… it was so much worse," Zoro told him hoarsely. The whole dream still hurt, and it had been over ten hours ago.

"What made it worse?" Sanji asked delicately.

"I thought I woke up… And Luffy wasn't next to me on the bed, and instead he was sitting in the corner playing with his blocks. I asked what he was doing, and...and..." Zoro said, tears forming in his eyes. He sniffed once and continued, trying to control his emotions, already feeling embarrassed for being so upset about a  _dream!_

"He asked me why I didn't save him. And he told me that I had said he'd be okay, and that he wasn't okay. Then he just disappeared and I woke up," Zoro finished firmly, composed again.

"Luffy will never get hit by a car. You know why? You, and we, are too protective of him. And I know, now that you've had this terrible dream, he won't be sliding into any streets anytime. I trust you to take care of him, and I hope you trust us to take care of him as well," Sanji said softly, finally looking at Zoro, whose face and eyes were slightly red.

"I do," Zoro replied.

"Good."

"... Can I get something other than this nasty coffee?" Sanji nodded and left for the kitchen.

"Mommy an daddy, we haf a present for you!" Luffy exclaimed at the breakfast table eight days later.

"Really? What is it?" Sanji asked in feigned curiosity as he ate his own food. They both had an idea of what it was, and wondered what it looked like. What the two wrote and Luffy drew.

"You see after brea'fast," Luffy said, shoveling a small spoonful of cheerios into his mouth, dripping some milk from the spoon.

Zoro turned to him with a smile. "Good sentence!" he praised. Luffy just grinned as some milk dribbled down his face. Zoro lovingly wiped the white liquid with his napkin.

"Okay, let's go get the surprise," Zoro told Luffy once he was on the floor. They held hands as they hurried to the living room and pulled the paper out from under the large couch. Luffy held it behind his back with the hand that wasn't grasping his brother's hand.

Zoro lifted Luffy up to a chair for him to stand on while he gave his parents his card.

"Happy anfersery!" Luffy cheered. He watched with a smile as the two adults smiled at the cute drawings and they message Luffy had wanted to say.

Zoro's face was red as Nami turned over the paper to see his own message. He stared at the table, not wanting to see whatever their reaction was because he just knew it would embarrass him.

"It's our pleasure, Zoro," Sanji said simply.

"Oh, Luffy, your drawings are so good! I love that I'm a tangerine," Nami told him sweetly.

"I make us food cause is yummy and I luf food and famy," Luffy explained.

"We all love you, too. Both of you. Do you two want to celebrate with a cake?"

"Yah!" Luffy exclaimed, bouncing on his toes. "I want cake!" Zoro affectionately pat Luffy on the head.

"You already bought one, didn't you?" Zoro assumed. But he was surprised to be wrong.

"Nope, we are all going to make one ourselves. A family project. Like we did for christmas with a gingerbread house." Zoro looked to Luffy, knowing that this cake would be a mess. But he was sure Luffy would enjoy it, and no matter if Luffy turned the cake into an ugly lump, he was sure it'd taste good anyway.

Like what Zoro predicted, Luffy was a mess after decorating his part of the cake. He and Zoro each got one side, and though Zoro's wasn't exactly a masterpiece, Luffy's was what could be described as a disaster. But no matter how random and messy his half was, he finished it happily. At least he liked his creation.

"Is a flower banana!" he said as he pointed to the squiggly yellow line with a blue squiggle on the top. They saw no flower, but congratulated and praised his work right after wiping his small hands off.

"Win we eat?" Luffy asked excitedly.

"After a yummy dinner I have planned. If you don't like the food, Luffy, then I will make you some pancakes. I would just like for you to try more things," Sanji told him fondly as he wrapped the cake with seran wrap and then put it in the fridge.

"Kay," Luffy agreed. He and Zoro both wondered what Sanji would be making.

The rest of the day was full of family time, playing games and watching movies, or reading Luffy stories. When Luffy had a burst of hyperactivity, Zoro played tag with him around the living room, but as an animal on all fours. He knew he looked stupid, but Luffy enjoyed it and was erupting in giggles everytime Zoro got close. Just hearing the little one laugh unrestrained was worth looking like an idiot.

Dinner was similar to Thanksgiving's dinner, where there was a plethora of food on the table, and it was just the four of them. Luffy enjoyed the meal, and was happy he didn't get too messy. He was able to use the fork a bit easier now. His hands still shook, but he seemed to have a slightly more control over the utensils that he used. He loved the dinner, and did not ask for pancakes afterwards.

"Is cake time?" he asked excitedly as Sanji cleared the table, putting some of the leftovers into plastic containers and into the fridge neatly.

"Yes it is," Sanji replied, taking the cake out and putting it on a platter with the necessary tools to serve the chocolate dessert. Luffy clapped his hands together in excitement. He hadnt had cake since Usopp's party, and that one had been vanilla. Luffy liked chocolate more.

Zoro was right. Though their cake's appearance was far from attractive, it tasted delicious.

The day was ended with the four of them watching  _Lilo and Stitch_.

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**Sanji is such a smooth talker lol.**


	12. Seizures: Part 2

**SarahPrincess: I'm always so happy when you review, thank you! I'm still so glad I didn't overdo Luffy's cuteness. I've written so many baby Luffy fics so maybe I have mastered not over doing it lol.**

#### Nihl: Thank you! It went well, and I like all of my teachers so far. 

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**A more emotional chapter, showing more of what comes along with Luffy's FAS. So, my mom is gonna read it and I've always never allowed her too and it makes me kinda nervous. do any of you have real-life friends and family read your stuff? Just curious. Enjoy~**

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Usopp and Luffy were in the living room dancing to a dancing DVD, having a very fun time, punctuated by laughter and giggles from both boys.

"You are doing it wrong, Usopp!" Luffy laughed as he spun around in a circle.

"No, you are! That's not even on the thing!" Usopp replied, watching Luffy improvise his moves as he now ignored the instructor on the TV.

"Is better than the thing!" Luffy countered, finally stopping his spins as he had become dizzy. Nami smiled at the two, being their supervisor at the moment as Zoro napped on the couch, still in Luffy's view of course.

Everyone was happy with how Luffy's speech was coming along. He could finally pronounce the "th" sound, though he was still having trouble with "v". But his basic vocabulary was great for someone like him.

"I'll be right back, you two," Nami said and got up to go get a glass of water from the kitchen. Then she heard Usopp scream in alarm and she dropped the cup, the glass shattering across the kitchen floor.

"Nami, Nami! Something's wrong with Luffy!" Usopp screamed from the living room. She hurried over to them and saw Zoro looking panicked and horrified as he watched Luffy seiz on the carpet, eyes closed, unable to do anything for his little brother.

" _Oh no,_ " Nami whispered.

The seizure had come after an absence one. Usopp knew Luffy sometimes looked off at nothing for a moment, then forgetting he ever stopped playing. Usopp just chalked it up to something only Luffy did. Luffy had been still for around 8 seconds before he fell to the floor silently and started twitching, his eyes closed and looking like he was just sleeping.

Once the seizure was over, Luffy slowly woke up and looked around the room, disoriented. He didn't know what happened, or why he was suddenly on the floor, or why everyone looked scared.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice slurring a little bit. He didn't notice this. But his head did hurt. Did he fall on the table?

"How do you feel, Luffy?" asked Zoro, trying to be strong and not show his concern since, like Luffy's other seizures, Luffy didn't notice what had happened. Usopp was crying next to Zoro.

"My head hurts," Luffy replied. Nami was intently doing something with her phone, looking up what they should do now. Did they need to take him to the hospital? Sanji wasn't there, so he couldn't drive Usopp home with his car while Nami took her sons to the hospital. She'd have to take her nephew with them and have Nojiko pick him up from there.

"Why are you crying, Usopp?" Luffy asked in concern. Usopp sniffled once and rubbed his long nose against his sleeve.

"You- you don't remember?" he asked in disbelief. How could someone not remember that?!

"Remember what? We were dancing and then I on the floor and efryone is looking at me." Luffy was thoroughly confused. He didn't like the looks he was being given.

Zoro looked pointedly at Usopp. "It's nothing big. You just suddenly fell asleep. I guess the dancing was too intense." Usopp got the message and didn't say anything more about Luffy's seizure, though he was still upset. It was scary and so sudden. Was Luffy okay? Why didn't he remember?

"Yah, I sweating now," Luffy observed. But he hadn't been sweaty before his new seizure. Zoro put his hand gently to Luffy's forehead and frowned. His little brother was hot.

"Why don't you sit down, Luffy?" Nami asked. Luffy nodded and turned around and plopped down in Zoro's lap. Zoro was happy he still did that. It wasn't like he couldn't still fit. He was now 31.4 inches tall. They had bought a scale and measures his height once a week to track his slow progress. At least he'd grown slightly. It had been a couple months over a year since he and Zoro had met Nami and Sanji. Luffy had made so much progress since then.

Zoro never thought Luffy could go out in public anywhere. At least not anytime soon. He also did not believe Luffy would catch on to speaking. The only real thing that you could tell was different about him now was his epilepsy, size, and clumsiness. His brain had obviously developed more because he no longer became confused easily and often.

But he was still younger at heart than a month away from being five. It felt like yesterday to Zoro that Luffy had his fourth birthday. Time was going faster now that they were in a stable environment. Zoro didn't know if he liked that. Though he wanted Luffy to develop more, he was afraid the little one wouldn't be so affectionate and clingy. Zoro enjoyed the cuddling and playing with Luffy all the time.

"We need to take him to the hospital," Nami told Zoro quietly. Zoro bit his lip. Luffy would not like going to the hospital. No way. So many people and loud noises. And the building was big. Zoro looked down at Luffy to see he'd fallen asleep with his thumb in his mouth. Usopp was still looking at his best friend and cousin in concern.

"Is he gonna be okay?" he asked with wide eyes.

"He'll be fine. Don't worry," Nami said sweetly.

"But… what happened? Why did he do the shaking?"

Nami felt she owed it to Usopp to tell him, plus it might ease his worry and concern. "Well, Luffy has a brain disorder. It's called epilepsy. He often has seizures, which are when he suddenly stops talking or doing anything for a few seconds. He takes pills to help with that. He's never done what he just did. We need to take him to the hospital to make sure he is okay. You will have to come with us since Sanji isn't here and mommy will pick you up from there. Okay?" she finished.

"Okay."

Nami quickly set up the second car seat for Usopp to use. Luffy was still sleepy as Zoro carried him to the car. The little one didn't even really notice the fact that he was being strapped into his car seat. Zoro ended up sitting between both little boys, holding Luffy's hand for comfort for himself and Luffy.

Nami had Nojiko on speakerphone as she drove to the hospital, the smaller one in town. Her sister was horrified when she heard about Luffy's seizure, and how Usopp saw the whole thing. The purple haired woman agreed to pick Usopp up at the hospital.

Luffy was still sleeping, his face red and all of him sweaty. He looked very sick and it terrified Zoro.

By the time the four got to the large, white, four story building, it was getting darker out, and they all had missed dinner, which was going to be delivered pizza. They'd have to get something at the cafeteria.

"Zoro?" Luffy woke as he was unstrapped from his car seat and brought into Zoro's arms. "Where are we?" he asked. It was obvious from his facial expression that he still didn't feel good.

"We are at the hospital," Zoro answered truthfully. Luffy asked why, still a bit out of it.

"Because you are sick. You don't feel good, right?" Luffy nodded. Then he saw the large building and how intimidatingly tall it was. He hid his face in Zoro's chest, like he did when they first moved into their current home. This was not going to be a pleasant visit in public like the toy shop had been.

Luffy whimpered quietly when they entered the lobby, which was full of noises, including crying babies and children. Zoro was told by Nami to sit on one of the couches with Luffy and Usopp, making sure to keep them together.

Nami explained what had happened to the secretary quickly, hating to have to relive that terrible moment again.

"Alright, you'll be in shorty. There was a major car crash with many victims so it's a bit busy tonight." Nami thanked the woman and hurried over to the three children.

"I don't like it here," Luffy whispered to Zoro. The older brother rubbed circles on Luffy's tired back.

"I know. But we gotta take care of you," Zoro replied gently. "It's no fun being sick." Luffy nodded.

"...No fun…" he agreed.

Usopp was in the seat next to Zoro holding Luffy, sleepy himself. It was getting late, and his stomach kept growling. Nami heard this when she sat down next to the boy.

"Mommy will be here soon and you can go home and have dinner," she told Usopp kindly. He sleepily nodded his head. Nami aslo heard Luffy's tummy growl and sighed. "I'll be right back," the mother said and hurried down the hall to the vending machine. They all needed something to keep their blood sugar up. All of the kids hadn't eaten since lunch, and even that wasn't a big meal. It had been sandwiches since Sanji wasn't there to cook, and Nami didn't want to use up any of his expensive ingredients to make something fancy.

She had called Sanji, who had been awhile away getting his car repaired in another town over that had an inexpensive shop. He'd end up needing to take a taxi to get to the hospital. He was very concerned after the call, biting his lip and trying to not tell the driver to hurry the hell up.

It was right after Nami returned with some candy bars and chips that Luffy was called in. He, Usopp and Zoro all scarfed down their food, Luffy eating his in small chunks so he didn't get the gooey chocolate stuck in his throat.

Luffy  _did not_ like the emergency room. There were so many sounds! People, machines, rolling carts. There was noise everywhere  _from_  everywhere.

Luffy was sat on a bed that was much too big for him. He looked very tiny on it. Like Nami and Sanji, sometimes Zoro didn't realize how small Luffy was, even when he was compared to Usopp side by side. The furniture had become the right size for Luffy eventually. At home. Here, things were different.

"Why I here? I feel better," Luffy fibbed, obviously still feeling sick. He wanted to go home.

"Don't pretend, Luffy. We need to know if you feel good or not. The faster we know how to fix the problem, the faster we can go home." Luffy pouted at Zoro's somewhat stern words, but did not lie again.

While the four waited for a doctor to come into their little curtained room, Nojiko had finally arrived and Nami quickly walked back into the lobby with Usopp to give him to her. Nojiko had a sad expression on her face, and told Nami good luck. Usopp burst into tears the moment the automatic doors shut behind him.

To say the whole visit to the emergency room was a nightmare would be an understatement. Luffy eventually burst into tears about wanting to go home because there was so much noise and big people running all over the place. Then he promptly had a less intense grand mal seizure (that was the name of the twitching seizure apparently) and had to be brought to his own room. The emergency room on an ordinary bed without full attention was not what the doctor recommended.

Luffy was still sobbing as they all walked to the floor above them into one of the simple rooms. There was no one else in the room except Luffy, since they purposely chose an unoccupied room for the poor boy.

Luffy  _never_ cried like this. It freaked Zoro out and he constantly asked if Luffy was alright and if he hurt anywhere and that he loved him and assured his brother that he'd be fine. So Zoro was quite upset as well, adding to the nightmare visit.

Sanji was asked over the phone to get some food for them from the cafeteria. Sanji wasn't impressed with the food down there, so he chose simple sandwiches with bottles of water. Anything that wouldn't upset Luffy stomach and make things worse.

Luffy had two absence seizures in the empty room, with thankfully no grand mal ones following. This prompted the doctor to tell them something that had Luffy sobbing again. He needed to stay the night in case he had any more big seizures. The doctor had already been discussing medication with the parents as the little patient and his brother ate their disappointing dinner.

By Luffy and Zoro's usual bedtime, Luffy had trouble staying awake. He wanted to wait for Sanji to bring back his giraffe and special blanket if he had to sleep in the "hopsitle", a word Luffy had never learned to say.

Luffy was not told that Zoro wouldn't be spending the night with him. Nami was the only one that could stay. Nami or Sanji, but Nami wanted to stay with him as he slept. The plan was that Zoro would go to sleep with Luffy, and then would leave to go home for the night and come back early in the morning before Luffy woke up.

So, once Sanji came back with Luffy's special blanket and stuffed animal, Zoro put him to bed and pretended to sleep with him for about a half hour. Then he carefully climbed over the railings put in place for toddlers (which he was the size of) and silently left the room, hating this. What if Luffy woke up without him there? It would be terrifying for his brother. Zoro had  _always_ stayed with Luffy while he slept.  _Always._  The only time he could think of that he didnt was when he was sick and throwing up. But he was still not far away from Luffy during that incident.

This time, Zoro would be  _twenty minutes_ away. That could be twenty minutes of Luffy freaking out. No one knew how he'd react. Luffy rarely had meltdowns. Almost never. That day's intense sobbing episodes were more intense than Luffy had ever behaved before. Well, when he was a newborn, he cried very often, and very loudly. When that happened, Zoro would lock their bedroom door and stuff blankets under the door to fill in the crack that sound could escape through.

They just had to all hope Luffy would not wake before Zoro came back.

That night, Zoro barely slept. The bed felt too big, and the room too quiet, without Luffy there. He felt like he was missing a part of him while he tried to sleep on their bed. He missed Luffy.

He got maybe four hours of sleep, but that would have to do since he was awoken at six and told that, of course with their luck, Luffy had woken up. And he was  _not_  happy.

Nami slept in a comfortable chair next to Luffy's oversized bed for most of the night. She had left the curtains open, something she always did in her and Sanji's room, on habit. Luffy and Zoro, however, left the curtains in their room  _closed._  Luffy would wake up to the sunlight streaming through the room instead of whenever his body was ready to finally wake up.

Luffy woke up to the light shining at his closed eyelids, turning everything a red color as he slowly gained consciousness again. He rolled over to hug Zoro good morning, but when the little boy rolled over, there was a big empty space where Zoro was  _supposed to be._  Luffy sat up quickly, looking around. Zoro wouldn't just leave him in here, so maybe he was in the bathroom? He knew there was a small bathroom attached to his cold and empty room. Hopefully Zoro was in there.

After a few moments of the door not opening, he climbed off the big bed and over the railing as best as he could. He fell on his butt while trying to get off, but made no noise of pain. Zoro would kiss him better and they'd go home together and see Kaya and his toys.

He slowly walked the short distance to the bathroom, holding onto objects on his way, not wanting to trip. When he reached the bathroom door, it was open. And there was no Zoro.

So Luffy suddenly began to wail loudly, trying to find Zoro. When he didn't come running into the room to help Luffy feel better, Luffy began to scream Zoro's name hysterically as he stood in the middle of the room, terrified of everything because Zoro wasn't there to help him or protect him. He plopped down on his bottom and sobbed loudly before Nami finally rushed over and picked him up to bring him back to the bed and try to calm him down.

"ZORO! Where's Zoro!?" Luffy cried, swatting away Nami's hands when she tried to comfort him. She had no idea what she was supposed to do to calm him down. This seemed like a temper tantrum, but he wasn't doing it for any selfish reason or just wanting something. He was very distressed with the absence of his rock. She dialed Sanji's number to tell him to get Zoro to come back, and to put him on the phone to talk to a hysterical Luffy.

"Luffy?" Zoro asked, sounding panicky, over the phone since he could hear Luffy's wails over the phone.

"Zoro!" Luffy screamed into the phone, being held up to his face by Nami. "Wh- where are you! I wan- want you! C- come ba-a-ck!" he cried.

"I'm on my way, Luffy. I'll see you soon. You need to calm down, okay?" Zoro told him as kindly as he could, but Luffy continued to sob at the same volume. "I'm almost there. I'm in the parking lot. I'll be there in a minute." Zoro could hear Nami in the background telling concerned bystanders and staff to stay out of the room until Luffy is calmed down. That he was fine, just in a bad mood at the moment. Apparently he was waking up other patients.

Zoro sang through the phone as best as he could while he sprinted down the halls and up the stairs. Luffy was still crying, but the screaming had calmed a bit.

When Zoro finally reached Luffy's ward, he could hear him cry and it caused Zoro to have teary eyes. But he didn't cry, because Luffy would be concerned and he'd be embarrassed to have anyone catch him crying. The only reason he'd ever cried before had to do with Luffy. Apparently it was the same with his brother since Zoro had  _never_ seen or heard Luffy sob or wail like this.

He finally ran into the room and practically threw the phone at the mattress and held Luffy to him tightly. The little one gripped Zoro's t-shirt tightly and continued to cry. "I'm here, now. You're okay," Zoro cooed, rubbing soft circles on Luffy's back and rubbing his scalp with his other hand.

Zoro climbed onto the bed and curled around him protectively. Luffy cried for a bit longer before his hysterics turned into small hiccups. Zoro kept his attention only on his brother, so he couldn't see Nami crying quietly into Sanji's chest at first.

Nami had been completely powerless to help Luffy calm down. He'd rejected her as he cried for Zoro, pushing her hands away from him. He  _only wanted ZORO._  She'd tried everything to cheer him up and stop the crying, but nothing she had done worked. Didn't Luffy see Nami as his mommy?

But, since she'd never encountered this situation with him before, she had no idea what she was supposed to do. Maybe telling him to shush or that he'd see Zoro soon hadnt worked. And she didn't want to upset him more by singing his and  _Zoro's_ favorite song.

She had realized through these awful minutes how much Luffy needed Zoro. Was it only because Zoro was his first parent? Would he always be Luffy's first parent, and the little one didn't even realize that? Had he confused the roles of parent and brother? Caregiver and sibling?

Through all of Nami's depressing thoughts, Zoro had steadily stopped Luffy's wails and sniffles. "Hey," Zoro said softly once Luffy had calmed down enough. "How are you feeling?"

"I wanna go home," Luffy replied with a light sniffle. "Why I haf to be here? I not sick anymore!"

"You'll get to come home today. I'll make sure of it. Okay? You just have to be a big boy and get through this and then we can go home and watch the Lion King and color and eat good food. Sanji brought breakfast. It's cold, though, since it was made last night. But it's better than the yucky hospital food, right?" When Luffy nodded his head, Sanji reached out the tupperware container that had a handful of mini pancakes.

Zoro surprised both adults when he gave Nami the package to give to Luffy. Zoro was aware of how upset the mother was when he came rushing in to help Luffy. It was apparent that Luffy hadn't accepted any sort of comfort from Nami during his melt down.

Zoro knew that Luffy still needed him around, but he hadn't realized how lost and upset Luffy was without him. It slightly concerned him. Though he wanted to still be Luffy's rock, he didn't want Luffy to practically shackle himself to him. Luffy should have developed at least  _some_ independence. Right? Though they couldn't compare or expect him to behave like someone his own age. Luffy was a mystery sometimes, and Zoro didn't like that.

Nami walked closer to Luffy's bed, eyes red around the rims from the crying, and handed Luffy the cold, plain pancakes. Luffy ate them with his hands since they were dry and the size of crackers.

"Mommy sad?" he asked sadly. Mommy had been crying, Luffy noticed. Did Luffy do something bad?

"No, I'm not sad Luffy. I just wish I could have helped you like Zoro does," Nami said, her voice steady, trying to banish the negative emotions evident on her face. Luffy looked down.

"Only Zoro," he said simply, unintentionally hurting Nami. She bit her lip and looked down as well.

"But you love mommy don't you?" Zoro prompted, feeling bad for Nami.

"I luf mommy and daddy!" Luffy exclaimed. He sounded slightly put off that someone would ask that. Who would think he didnt love mommy?

Just then the doctor came in, looking at Luffy kindly, who automatically started rubbing the tips of his fingers together at the sight of the stranger that made him stay in this awful place alone yesterday.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Luffy," the woman said kindly. Then she addressed the others in the room. She had been speaking about Luffy with Nami last night before Luffy went to bed, about medication for him to help with his new type of seizure. To treat both the absence and grand mal. Luffy's health and reactions to his first medication were discussed in length.

"I think the best choice of medication for him is called topiramate, or topamax for short. It works to treat both types of seizures he now has. There are very different side effects than the zarontin. You'll have to decide if they're worth it. I'd like to have him check in two weeks to see how he's reacting to it.

"The possible and common side effects are sleepiness, dizziness, nervousness, speech, memory and vision problems and weight loss. You were all lucky that the first medication you tried had worked with little side effects. And since Luffy has shown no internal negative symptoms from his disability, I don't think that this medication will be problematic for his overall health. Though I would like to run some tests on him, even though you did that a few months ago and he was fine, but I don't want him to be upset like he was not long ago and yesterday.

Luffy wondered what a disability was, but he was then distracted when Zoro whispered they'd be home real soon.

"You all can go home now, and pick up the prescription at your pharmacy," the doctor finished with a smile at Luffy's grin about going home.

"Thank you, doctor. We will come back immediately if something happens besides the side effects. Can you write those down for us?" Sanji asked.

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**Review!**


	13. Backtracking and Birthday

#### Nihl: Thank you! I hope she likes it. Don't know when she will start reading it, though. 

####  **pinkster_2005: Thanks! Don't worry, I have some more content on Luffy and Nami. ;)**

####  **YesSmoking: Thank you!**

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**A mindlessly fluffy chapter after the last one that had some darker themes to it. The next chapter after this one introduces some new characters and improvements in Luffy's condition. The side-effects to the new meds in this chapter are accurate.** **I'm taking a child development class this semester and we're on a chapter about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and I feel so advanced lol. Enjoy~**

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Luffy was happy in his car seat as they headed to the pharmacy. He had been given some pills to temporarily keep his seizures away, but the drugs would dissipate, hopefully after he started his new medication. His family were worried, like they had been when he first started his zarontin (which he was going to be weaned off gradually), about the possible side effects. They just had to hope for the best.

Nami left the car to get the medication and came back with some gummy worms for her kids to snack on on their way home.

Luffy ran through the front door of their house the moment it was open, dragging Zoro with him. He was home! Luffy hurried down the halls with his brother, calling for Kaya, who ran to him and he pet her stomach once she flopped down in front of him.

"Happy to be home, Luffy?" Sanji asked.

"Yah!" Luffy cheered. "Zoro, read a book! Please!" he added. The two went into their room and Luffy pulled most of his picture books out of the bottom shelf of their shared bookshelf, wanting Zoro to read him all of them. Zoro didn't protest, and happily sat on their bed with Luffy securely sitting in his lap. Zoro kissed his head; he needed a bath.

"I missed you last night," Zoro told him kindly.

"I miss you, too. I like sleeping with you more," Luffy replied. Then he frowned slightly. "Why you leaf me?" he asked sadly. Zoro winced, the nightmare months ago flashed into his mind.  _Why you not safe me?_  He shook it off.

"I didn't want to. You know I'd never leave you on purpose. I couldn't stay because only one person was allowed, and Nami was the adult," Zoro explained.

"I wish it was Zoro. Zoro is my favorite," Luffy stated, leaning back against Zoro's chest. "Zoro is best!" Zoro smiled at him fondly.

"You're the best, too, Luffy," Zoro replied with a somewhat sad smile. Then he began to read Luffy all of his picture books.

Nami and Sanji were sipping coffee on the couch. Sanji had decided not to make a big breakfast. He'd make a large lunch. Nami had been down ever since they left the hospital. She knew it wasn't fair to be so upset that Luffy craved Zoro more than Nami. Zoro raised Luffy from an infant, so of course Zoro takes up a large portion of Luffy's heart. She could only hope that, over time, Luffy came to equally love all three.

"Give it more time," Sanji told his wife gently. She gave a sigh and nodded.

Sanji felt for her. He knew that Luffy had a special place in her heart and she wished Luffy reciprocated her love completely. Nami loved Zoro, too, but it just wasn't the same. Luffy was the first child to click with her. He was her baby.

Sanji spent more time with Zoro, though he loved Luffy, too. He and Zoro had been the first to click, even if the very first meeting wasn't ideal. Zoro came to confide in him when he felt like it, which wasn't often. After Zoro had confessed his nightmare, and Sanji had handled it well, Zoro would hang out with Sanji more whenever Nami had Luffy time. Zoro mostly sat at the kitchen counter on a stool and tried food Sanji made and talked to him about mostly trivial things.

"He said he loves us. That's good enough for now, right?" Sanji asked Nami gently.

"Yeah, I guess," Nami replied quietly. Just then the boys walked into the kitchen. Halfway through the long stack of picture books, Luffy decided he was hungry, so here the brothers were, asking for lunch.

"Daddy! Can we haf lunch?" Luffy happily cried as he hurried to the couch with Zoro. He was so happy to be home and eat daddy's food. "Daddy's food is better than the hopsitle food," the little one stated.

"Sure, Luffy. What do you two want?" Sanji asked the brothers.

"I want chicken! Zoro pick what kind," Luffy replied with a smile directed at his brother.

"Lemon chicken," Zoro said. "Is that okay?" he asked Sanji.

"Sure. It'll take a little while so you'll have to have a snack before hand. Okay?" Sanji addressed his youngest. Luffy nodded and wandered over to the coffee table and sat down at it to draw on his little pad of drawing paper. Zoro went to the end of the couch to nap. He was exhausted from how little sleep he got, and how stressful they day had been so far.

"Daddy? Wha do you hide won eye?" Luffy asked. Zoro looked down and sighed sadly at Luffy's pronunciation.

The little one had been on his new medication for a little over a week and was showing side effects. Less harmless than his side effects from his first medication. His speech had regressed in pronunciation. He could no longer pronounce "th" and "v" and stumbled over words he'd said clearly not ten days ago. They were grateful Luffy didn't notice this, or he wouldn't be happy.

He was also having memory problems. He often couldn't remember he'd asked what was for dinner and asked again at least two more times. But Nami, Sanji, and Zoro tried to pretend nothing had changed for now. If it got worse, or the more intense and longer speech sessions didn't help, they'd consider changing medications. And if he began to forget important things, that would be a cause to change as well.

"It's a secret," Sanji told Luffy at the dinner table.

"Uh mysery?!" Luffy asked excitedly.

"Exactly," Sanji replied with a smile.

Luffy hadnt had an absence or grand mal seizure since he started his medication, which they were grateful for. Luffy still took naps throughout the day, which his family was also grateful for. It was time where Zoro could relax or nap himself, and Nami liked just taking pictures of Luffy curled up on the beanbag chair or in Zoro's lap. She had framed a photo of both Zoro and Luffy napping on the couch together.

There were framed pictures of the boys and family photos hung on many of the walls in the house. Along with Luffy's abundance of scribbled drawings pinned on the walls as well. More pictures were in the scrapbook of Luffy's life that zoro treasured.

Nami also took photos of Luffy periodically every week to document his growth. If he was at all. It was nearing his fifth birthday and he had not grown noticeably at all. If you held a yardstick next to him, you could see he'd grown less than a centimeter. They always measured him after a bath so his hair was flat against his head and wouldn't interfere with the accuracy of the measurements.

Usopp was coming over today, the first day since that horrible night where Luffy had his first grand mal seizure and Usopp saw it. He'd wanted to come over earlier than now, but Nami and Sanji thought it was best to see what the side effects of this new medication were before inviting the other little boy over.

There was a knock at the front door after lunch's plates had been taken back to the kitchen to be cleaned. Luffy and Zoro walked to the front door and opened it after seeing Usopp and Nojiko through the peephole.

"Usopp! What ahre you doin' here?" Luffy asked happily, having forgotten the conversation about inviting his best friend over. Usopp looked a bit confused.

"You invited me," he replied. Luffy tilted his head to the side. Then he shrugged it off, wanting to play with Usopp as soon as possible.

"'Kay," Luffy said simply and tugged on Zoro's hand to hurry with him and Usopp to the living room.

"Usopp, look at dis!" Luffy said, holding up a large lollipop he'd been bought by Nami when she had gone grocery shopping. It was a rainbow swirl lollipop that he hadnt taken the wrapper off of. It was too pretty to eat. "Isn' it pretty?"

Usopp said nothing at the way Luffy said "this". "Wow! It's so big! Why didn't you eat it?" he asked, both of them sitting on the carpet now. Usopp had brought his toy dinosaurs and Luffy had his toy cars.

"Is too pretty to eat," Luffy replied, and put it on the little plastic kids table. "I not gonna eat it cause is special an I wan' to keep it for uh long time."

Then the two little boys played with both of their abundance of toys, making  _vroom_  noises or dinosaur noises, punctuated by giggles and laughter.

Zoro read on the couch, being the supervisor, while all the adults were at the kitchen bar. Nojiko told Nami and Sanji about how Usopp had sobbed once they got out of the hospital, because he was scared for Luffy.

"He told me 'Luffy's hurt and is he gonna be okay?' and I told him he'd be fine. And he is, which I'm positive Usopp is extremely happy about." Then she paused. "I'm so sorry Luffy had this happen to him. I know how scary it must have been for all of you," Nojiko said sympathetically.

"Yeah, it was… And his new medication is causing problems," Nami sighed sadly. "His speech is getting worse, and he keeps forgetting things. He didn't even remember Usopp was coming over. We may switch medications if it gets any worse, especially if Luffy starts to notice the problems.

"Usopp, I turning fife soon!" Luffy cheered. "You c'n come to mah party!" Usopp looked Luffy up and down. There was no way Luffy could be turning five! He was still too small.

"Are you sure?" Usopp asked. Luffy looked surprised. Of course he was sure. He knew it because Zoro had told him, and Zoro never lies.

"I sure," Luffy replied. "I don' know wha I gonna do for it, dough. I don' haf lots'a friends like you do."

"Well you could have family come over. Right? Or you don't have to throw a party at all," Usopp suggested. Luffy thought it over. He hadnt seen grampa in a long time.

"I think abou' it," Luffy declared, going back to playing with best friend.

Luffy had made plans for his "party" for Usopp, Nojiko and Grandpa come over and it was going to be a movie marathon night. It would be low energy and relaxing, unlike Usopp's party. Luffy's family knew that he had had a hard time being around other peers, and he also didn't  _have_ any other peers. He had been invited to have his birthday party at Usopp's house and he could invite his friends to play with Luffy. But Luffy didn't want that. He didn't want to get forgotten again, so he'd declined the thoughtful offer.

When Zoro woke up on Luffy's fifth birthday, he couldn't believe he was looking at a five year old. Luffy still was tiny, curled up under his blanky next to Zoro, sleeping soundly. Zoro hoped Luffy would grow more before his sixth birthday. He could see Usopp getting bigger through the year, and little Luffy stayed, well,  _little._

As Zoro watched Luffy in slight worry, said boy woke up and yawned. As usual, like every morning, Luffy scooched up to Zoro for a good morning hug. Zoro kissed his hair.

"Happy birthday," Zoro told his brother. Luffy gave a wide smile.

"I fife now!" he said excitedly. "We see grampa today!"

"I know. Are you excited?" Luffy nodded his head enthusiastically.

"I get cake, too! Right?"

"That's right. I've seen it, and it's very pretty. You might not even want to eat it!" Luffy gave a confused frown.

"Is cake so I eat it. If is pretty, I still eat it," then he smiled. "Cuz is mah birfday! An I a big boy!"

"That's right. You're a big boy," Zoro humored.

"Big boy like Usopp!" Zoro frowned slightly for a second. Luffy was much smaller than Usopp, but if he saw himself as equal like this, then Zoro couldn't complain.

"C'mon, let's go get dressed, birthday big boy," Zoro said happily, helping Luffy a bit to get off the bed. Luffy pulled an outfit from his bottom drawer and told Zoro big boys dress themselves, which he tried to do. He was able to pull his shorts up by steadying himself on by gripping tightly onto their blanket on the bed.

He eventually gave a frustrated pout and asked Zoro to help him with his shirt, but only a little bit! Luffy would try to pull the clothing down once his arms were inside the sleeves. Both brothers were pleased that it worked. Luffy was a big boy! He'd told Zoro that, and now he proved it!

Luffy hurried to the bedroom door, holding the railing, and opened the crack of the doorway all of the way, and waited for Zoro to get dressed and come with him.

"I gonna have gud breafast, huh?" Luffy questioned happily as they leisurely walked down the hall and into the living room.

"I'm sure you will, Luffy."

When they reached the doorway to the living room and kitchen, Luffy gasped. His parents had worked all night for his party decorations. There were paper fishies hanging from strings pinned to the ceiling, and rainbow christmas and fairy lights hung around the walls. There were balloons situated sporadically around the tile and carpet, and on the dining room table, there were a couple of gift wrapped presents and gift bags.

"Wow!" Luffy exclaimed in amazement. "So amasin! Mommy, daddy! Look!" he shouted at the two adults sitting at the table, pointing all around the room.

"We made it for you, Luffy," Nami said. "Happy birthday!" she called, pulling on a fourth of July cup that popped out confetti and streamers all over him. He giggled at this.

"Dank you!"

"You are very welcome. It's no ordinary day when someone turns five years old," Sanji said with a smile.

"I turned big boy today! I ahlready big boy, but now I bigguh." Luffy peeked his head over the kitchen table on his very tip toes and looked at the few presents excitedly. He didn't mind there weren't much, and it never even crossed his mind that they weren't enough. He had no idea what they might be. There were more bags than boxes, but the boxes there were, were already cut on the top for easy access.

"Win I open pesants?" Luffy questioned excitedly.

"A little after grandpa and Usopp and Nojiko come over. You have to have lots of people sing to you first, you know. It's a birthday party rule. And you can only have cake after they sing, and you make a special wish. No one knows if the wishes come true, so you just have to believe it will," Sanji said, looking at Luffy's amazed face fondly.

"Like magic?!" Luffy asked with a big grin.

"Exactly like magic."

The wait for grandpa and Usopp and his mom was a long one to Luffy. He tried to occupy himself by drawing, but he couldn't stop looking over to his presents and the fridge where the mystery cake was. He didn't know what it looked like. He also was getting very distracted by the decorations around the room. They really went all out to make Luffy's fifth birthday special.

Kaya attacked the shadows of the homemade, cardboard fish hanging from the ceiling.

Finally, Luffy knew he needed another distraction, so he called for mommy to come to him. When she did, Luffy opened his arms for a hug from her. Nami crouched down and gave him a tight hug.

"Read me uh book?" he asked happily once they parted. Zoro was napping on the couch, his novel forgotten.

"Sure, Luffy." So Nami read him a picture book that also had pop outs in it. Luffy was fascinated by it every time it was read to him. The door was knocked on, not too harshly, after Nami had finished reading Luffy the book. He jumped up to his feet but stayed in the living room because Zoro was just waking up.

After Nami left his view and went to open the door, Luffy heard Usopp running down the hall and to the birthday boy.

"Happy birthday, Luffy!" Luffy's friend cheered. Luffy grinned.

"Danks! An you know what? I fife, so now I a big boy like you ahre," Luffy said happily. Usopp smiled back. He wondered why Luffy was so fixated on being a big boy.

Nojiko came over to Luffy and crouched down. "Happy birthday, Luffy," she said nicely. "I'm sure you will like the presents we bought," and Luffy's aunt then held up two smallish boxes with fancy bows on top.

"Dank you," Luffy said with a smile, excited to have two more presents.

Not long after Nojiko and Usopp arrived did Genzo. When the brothers' grandpa entered the room, Luffy jumped up and down. He liked grampa. Zoro was sitting on the couch, observing Luffy's interactions with his family with a soft smile.

"Where's the big boy of the house?" Genzo called.

"Grampa!" Luffy cheered, hurrying over to him. He was already fairly close to the couch, so Luffy didn't have to run far. "Here! I da big boy!" Genzo picked him up and thrust him up into the air above his head. Luffy giggled.

"You've gotten a little heavier, Luffy! You really are getting to be a big boy," Genzo said with a grin. It was a lie, Luffy was exactly the same as the last time he'd seen him, but he wasn't going to not play along with Luffy's obsession with being a big boy. It was very cute. He still sometimes couldn't believe Luffy was now five. "I got a present for you that I think you'll like."

"Yay!" Luffy cheered. "Efryone is here now so I get mah cake!" Luffy said with a smile. "An efryone is goin to sing to me."

Luffy excitedly sat on his chair at the kitchen table with everyone but Zoro standing around the table. Nami had a camera and was taking pictures of Luffy, who looked so happy. After they sang to him, he blew out the five lit candles on his cake.

Luffy then did his very best to eat neatly, though he still got some frosting on his hands, but it wasn't too bad. Zoro praised him for his neatness, and Luffy grinned with frosting around his mouth.

The birthday boy was so excited to open his presents. He opened Nami, Sanji and Zoro's three presents first. It was a very big pad of paper with an enormous set of crayons of every color. Both he and Usopp "wowed!" at the big package or crayons. Usopp was jealous! So much to draw with!

The second present was  _Where the Wild Things Are._  He was happy he had a new picture book. He loved them, and liked having a large collection of them to have mommy and Zoro read to him. Daddy didn't read to him much. His voice was too deep for Luffy and he wasn't good at changing voices for different characters like mommy and Zoro.

His third present was a star projector, in the only box on the table.

"Wat is it?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Would you like to see?" Nami asked with a smile. Luffy would love it. He nodded in response.

Nami set it up and plugged it in, turning all the lights off and closing the curtains, making the room dimmer. Then she turned it on. The ceiling suddenly was covered in light with stars. It looked like the night sky and the stars moved around like they were being moved by a slow breeze. Usopp and Luffy gasped. It was amazing!

Luffy was completely distracted by the lights, and did not pay attention to anything but the stars above him. He finally spoke after five minutes of watching.

"Zoro! We watch dis at bed time!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Sure," Zoro said with a smile. Though he wondered if it would make it more difficult for Luffy to sleep. Well, they'd find out that night. "Let's open more presents, okay?"

"'Kay," Luffy said, happily going to his pile of presents, the lights turned on the projector off.

The gifts from Usopp were beanies. One of them was fluffy and purple, while the other one was white with little cat ears.

"I luf dem! Danks Usopp!" Luffy exclaimed, putting on the white hat. Nami took a picture of Luffy in his adorable new cat hat. He was getting really good presents!

Next was Genzo's gift. It was in a heavy, very big gift bag. Luffy turned it on its side and pulled out a fluffy blanket. He tried spreading it out since there was a picture on it, but it was too big for him, so his grampa held it up for his grandson to see. Luffy grinned, and so did everyone else.

It was an image of a giraffe and brachiosaurus, his two favorite animals, surrounded by trees with fruits on them, and strawberries on the bottom. The brachiosaurus was flying a purple kite from its mouth. Genzo had it custom made. For some reason Luffy liked creatures with long necks.

Zoro laughed at it, and how Luffy practically had stars in his eyes at the amazing blanket.

Luffy asked to have it wrapped around him, and soon he was surrounded by a blanket much, much bigger than he was. He thanked grampa and everyone else for his presents. He got a lot of good ones.

"Usopp, let's go draw!" Luffy said as he was taken down from his special seat. He dragged his new blanket behind him, holding the box of new crayons while his friend carried the large pad of thick paper above his head, both heading to their little table to draw.

The boys drew while Zoro supervised. The adults all sat at the table or counter drinking coffee and talking.

"Usopp, c'n you gif me a green crayon?" Luffy asked. Usopp handed his friend what he asked for. "Usopp, c'n I haf a green crayon?"

Usopp looked slightly confused. "I gave it to you," he said slowly. Why did Luffy forget? "Right there," he said as he pointed to the crayon in front of Luffy.

"Oh! Danks," Luffy said, not noticing he'd done something abnormal to Usopp. Zoro frowned behind his brother.

"Usopp, can you come here please?" Zoro asked. Usopp got up and walked over to Zoro. "Luffy has become more forgetful from some new medication to help him not have seizures. Please be patient with him. He doesn't notice it," Zoro explained nicely. He was glad Usopp was smart for his age. He just nodded and walked back to Luffy.

Over all, Luffy had the best party he'd ever had (which wasn't saying much since this was only his second). He happily said goodbye to everyone after they all played games together in the living room and watched a Disney movie. He was very excited to go to bed so he could fall asleep to the stars.

After the family of four ate a massive breakfast for dinner meal like the first morning the boys had gotten here, Luffy excitedly dragged Zoro to their bedroom to go night night. Zoro read him some stories so he was a little sleepy and not excited enough to stay awake.

Luffy's new blanket was over both of them, over the comforter, and they both looked at the moving stars Zoro had angled to the underside of the top bunk. It was a little bright, but it was very beautiful and relaxing for both of them. Luffy actually fell asleep before Zoro, who turned the projector off before he drifted to sleep as well.

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**Review!**


	14. Physical Therapy

#### Nihl: Don't worry, this isn't an angsty story like some of my others. I won't kill off or make him absolutely miserable. 

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**Feeling a lot better than my last update! Classes are going well and I like my schedule. My cat's dental surgery went well and he has a new lease on life. Even if I'm still having a problem with my friend, things are going good and I'm at 50,000+ words on a fic in progress. Don't know when it will be finished, though. It involves the Whitebeards, again. So, this chapter introduces more characters and some more stuff about Luffy's disorder. Sorry it's so short! Enjoy~**

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Three weeks after Luffy's birthday, Nami had measured him again, and he had finally reached a centimeter above when they first got him. When she weighed him, he had reached five pounds more than when they'd started weighing him.

But this was slightly discouraging. It'd been over a year. Nami had continued to do research, and Luffy was growing slower than most other children with FAS. If he continued to grow at this pace, he'd be very small for all his life. Not just shorter than his peers, but  _a lot_  shorter.

He had also only slightly improved his balance and spatial awareness. He was able to hold a fork a little better than before, but he couldn't draw anything close to a straight line. He was also having problems catching a ball when he wanted to play with one, as well as being unable to pull a shirt on. The parents were debating starting him with physical therapy to help with his motor function problems. It would be better to start earlier in life.

They had spoken to Zoro about this, and he agreed that if they could do nothing about his growth, they could at least do something about his clumsiness.

He finally spoke to Luffy about it once they'd made the decision to make an appointment. "Hey, Luffy," Zoro said as he colored with his brother.

"Yah?"

"You don't like falling or dropping things, do you?" he asked conversationally. He looked up to see Luffy shaking his head. No, he didn't like these things. "Would you like to be better at those things?" Luffy nodded his head.

"I don' like fallin. Is no fun."

"Well, me and mommy and daddy were thinking about something. There's a place where you can go to learn how to be better at walking and playing and eating. Would you like to try it? Me and mommy and daddy would be with you," Zoro explained kindly. "Would you like to try?"

Luffy thought for a moment. "Is goin ou'side place?" he asked. Zoro nodded.

"It won't be a scary place like the hospital. I'm sure you'd have fun, and learn how to walk on your own and do other things easier."

Luffy finally nodded. He would try, because he was a big boy now!

A week later, Luffy stood at the front door, in some cotton clothes. Zoro was next to him, wearing a bag of some of Luffy's comfort objects, like his fluffy pom pom and stuffed animal. Luffy tried to not rub his fingers together at first, but he started to do so. He had been explained where they were going again, since he'd forgotten. But, he agreed to go once again.

"Ready, big boy?" Sanji asked nicely. Luffy nodded. He took Zoro's hand as they walked to the car, and he was strapped into his car seat. Nami had put on Luffy's comfort song as it played in the car on the drive to the physical therapy clinic.

Luffy asked to be held by Zoro, since he was scared. Zoro held him. Luffy looked up when they entered the clinic and went down the hall a bit after confirming they had an appointment. The room he was in was so colorful! And when he looked to the side, he saw other little kids walking clumsily, some holding hands of their parents. Luffy gasped. When Zoro and the parents looked at him he was smiling.

"I not on'y one! Look!" Luffy exclaimed as he pointed to the other kids learning how to walk correctly.

"That's right, Luffy. There are lots of other kids who have your difficulties. You were never the only one," Sanji said kindly, giving Luffy a big smile. The little boy asked to be put down, because he wasn't scared in this room anymore. He was around people like him! He was so happy and unconsciously relieved.

"Hi, Luffy. My name is Makino," a kind looking woman with dark green hair said once she came up to him. "Do you want to play some games?" she asked.

"I fought I gonna learn," Luffy replied.

"Who said learning can't be fun?" Luffy smiled, as did his family. Luffy let go of Zoro's hand uncertainly. "Ready? We have to walk to the other end of the room. Can you do that, or do you want your brother to come, too?" Makino asked sweetly. She'd been told all about Luffy when Nami had come last week. So she knew all of Luffy's problems and the cause. She'd had FAS children come in before, so she wasn't a stranger as to how they acted.

Luffy furrowed his brows. "I c'n do it! I uh big boy," he finally said with determination.

"That's right! Your family will be right here in case you need to take a break with them." Luffy nodded.

He walked next to Makino as best as he could. He wobbled a few times, and tripped once. But Makino was quick, and like Zoro, supported him by his stomach. "Only a little bit left until we can play our first game." Luffy nodded and walked after her. He didn't trip again, though his legs were very unsteady.

Soon, he stood in front of a pattern of white squares. "This game is called hopscotch. In each box, you have to hop three times. Then make it to the next one. Then I'll do it, and we can see who did better!" Luffy nodded. He didn't really jump much, so this would probably be hard.

He stood on the first square. "Ready?" Makino asked, standing next to Luffy in case he fell. He nodded, and jumped three times. The jumps werent high at all, and his feet didn't land at the same time at the third hop. But he didn't fall.

"I did it!" he said, and Makino clapped for him. He went to the next square, and hopped again, three times. He was trying his hardest not to fall, but he had to have his arms out to try and balance himself.

As he went down the line of squares, he started to fail more, and Makino deemed that was enough for him. She then did it after him, purposely not doing each one perfectly.

"Looks like we tied." Luffy smiled. Makino was just assessing him before she'd decide what would be best to start off with.

They took a little break for Luffy to go to his family and tell them what he'd just done, though they'd seen it fine.

Makino gave him a yogurt and spoon to see how his fine motor skills were. They were not good. He dropped a bit of yogurt on the floor, but he wiped it up with a paper towel he was given. The physical therapist watched as his hands shook, and as the spoon wobbled.

Once he finished his snack, he had his face and hands cleaned off. Then he went back to Makino for their next game. But this time, he was given some paint and paper. Makino had the same supplies.

She painted a stick figure with her finger, lines straight. "Can you copy this, Luffy? Then make it in any outfit you want." Luffy did his best to copy the figure with his now blue fingers, but the lines were very squigly. Then he gave it a shirt and big shoes. "Very good! Let's do another one, and make a different outfit." Luffy copied her figure more times, the lines not improving, not that she expected them to.

Zoro and his parents watched Luffy as he had a good time. They could tell he really liked Makino. He didn't have to do anything difficult for his first time. He just played easy "games". He didn't need to move around much or stand up. Makino had him learn patty cake with her to see if his arms shook as well.

Luffy went back to his family with a smile. "Did you have fun?" Nami asked, crouching next to him.

"Lots'a fun!" Then he looked at the other family members in their own sections watching their children. Luffy glimpsed a little boy trip on his way back to his parent. Luffy surprised his family when he wobbled over to the little boy and asked if he was okay.

Nami, Sanji and Zoro hurried over to Luffy, and the little boy who fell nodded to him. The parents apologized for Luffy running over and talking to her kid. It was very surprising Luffy was talking to people he didn't know.

"Oh, it's completely fine. He's a nice boy to ask my boy if he's okay," the mother said kindly.

Nami looked at the little boy who fell. Though Luffy didn't have the facial features of his disorder, this little boy did. She didn't mean to sound rude but she asked the mother if the child had FAS. Apparently, the woman was not the mother, but an aunt. Her face became a little closed off, but she confirmed Nami's thought.

"Luffy does too. Can I ask you some questions? We haven't met any other parents with a FAS child."

The woman's closed off expression left and she and Nami began to talk. This little boy, named Coby, was four. He was a little taller than Luffy. He didn't have epilepsy, but suffered from heart and vision problems, wearing glasses that had rubber frames. They spoke about medications and the behaviors of both boys. Nami felt relieved to finally meet someone who was in the same boat as she and Sanji.

Luffy got along well with Coby, and they both had speech problems. Coby had a slight lisp, along with not very good vocabulary. The little boys talked about how fun it was to be here. His physical therapist's name was Tashigi. Everyone but Luffy could tell Coby was shy.

Sanji and Zoro listened to the woman talk, but did not take part in the conversation. Nami had made sure to tell her that she was Luffy's adoptive mother, not the woman who selfishly damaged his brain and body.

The two women exchanged numbers, and the family of four left to go get some ice cream to congratulate Luffy on his first day of physical therapy. But he called them "helper games".

The parents and Zoro practiced at home like they were told to. It was mostly hand exercises. Getting him to try and draw straight lines or eat slower and more steady. He went along with these fine, until his hands got too tired. They'd push him as much as he could. They wouldn't make these things too easy.

Luffy, sadly, hadn't been improving as fast as they hoped. He went to the physical therapist three times a week, for an hour and a half, for three weeks. But Makino was patient with him, since he sincerely did his best to improve. He grew frustrated when he fell over while doing his helper games. He still couldn't hop on one foot, and still had balance troubles when they practiced putting on a shirt. Raising his hands too high was quite difficult for him. Plus, when the shirt was blocking his vision, that didn't help either.

Makino was one of Luffy's favorite people. He even invited her to go get ice cream with him, and she did.

When the family and Makino had gone to the ice cream parlor, Luffy used a spoon and did his best to show his progress with his teacher. He wasn't as messy, but it still wasn't perfect. His hands still shook, but no one said anything to him about this. Makino had praised his progress.

Nami and Sanji had also been talking to Coby's aunt, Vivi, about her experience with her nephew. According to her, Coby had learned to speak very late, like Luffy. Coby had started growing quicker when he turned three and a half, unlike Luffy who was barely growing at all anymore as a five year old.

Vivi told Nami to not be discouraged, for even if Luffy always stayed a small size for his age, he was still Luffy. If he was teased by others for his small size, at least he'd find true friends quickly. She said Coby got teased all of the time by the other kids in his apartment complex, but because of that he'd made a good friend who always stuck up for him.

Coby was nice because Luffy had forgotten his name multiple times, but Coby didn't say anything about it. He just introduced himself again.

After the second week of both families knowing each other, a playdate was scheduled for the boys at Luffy's house.

Coby was a lot more shy than Usopp was in the beginning. He peeked around corners and wrung his hands when he walked into the living room. He held onto his aunt's pant leg, like the way Luffy held onto Zoro's hand.

"Hi, Coby!" Luffy cheered when the pink haired boy came into view.

"Hi…" Coby replied.

"You c'n come an sit ofer here," Luffy said as lead him to the carpeted area where the couch was. "You wanna wach uh mofie? Haf you seen da Lion King? Is my faforite mofie efer!"

Coby shook his head. He'd never seen that movie. "Do you wanna wach it wif me?" Coby nodded. "You don' haf to be shy." Coby blushed.

Luffy lead him to the comfiest part of the couch, and both small boys had trouble getting on, so Luffy took his step stool and put it against the couch, letting both of them onto the cushiony furniture. Zoro came and sat next to Luffy, handing him a bowl of popcorn so that both his brother and Coby could reach the snack.

Coby was very invested in the movie, as was Luffy. But when Zoro looked to the side, he saw Luffy having an absence seizure. They hadn't seen Luffy having one of those in quite a while. Zoro waited nervously, ready to help if he had a grand mal seizure afterwards. But thankfully, Luffy went back to his movie and ate some more popcorn. Zoro sighed in relief, putting his hand on Luffy's head softly. The little boy looked up at him, but it felt good so he didn't tell Zoro to stop.

After a little while of playing with Luffy's blocks, Coby was becoming overwhelmed, and wanted to go home. Like Luffy, Coby wasn't fond of unfamiliar settings. Luffy looked a bit sad when Coby wanted to go home, but then Luffy remembered that he felt the same sometimes, and he happily said goodbye to Coby. Vivi invited Luffy to come to their house sometime, and Luffy said maybe. Looks like Coby was braver than Luffy about going to new places more often.

"Coby is nice. I like him. Diffr'nt dan Usopp, dough," Luffy said at the dinner table as he ate his mashed potatoes slowly. Usopp was still his favorite, though Coby was a nice friend who was a lot like Luffy was. The little boy was still so happy he wasn't the only one who was different. He had not liked knowing he was different in some ways. But he didn't know  _how_ different he was. The difference he saw between him and other little boys from Usopp's party was that he didn't talk very good, and that he was clumsier and smaller. He didn't know his brain was wired differently. His family wondered when they'd tell him about the problems he'd suffer, and why.

But that was a topic for another day, hopefully far in the future.


	15. The Roles Get Switched

**Enzilia: Zoro will grow to be more his own person, but that is not focused on too much as the story revolves around the love of Zoro and Luffy mostly, with Sanji and Nami too, of course.**

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**Coming very close to the end! Makes me sad, as a lot of people really liked this fic! Do not worry, it won't be a sad ending, I promise. There is more Nami and Luffy focus in this chapter, so I hope that makes people happy. It also shows how Luffy is just as clingy to Zoro as he is to Luffy. Enjoy~**

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Luffy wandered into the kitchen, wrapped in his blanket his grampa had given to him. He was going to ask daddy for some milk. When Sanji went to the cupboard to get a jar with a straw poking out the lid, Luffy followed him to pick the color of the one he wanted to use. He dropped the blanket next to the island in the kitchen.

Zoro walked in after him, wanting a drink as well. He didn't see Luffy's wadded up blanket laying on the hardwood floor and stepped on it. He was startled when it slipped forward, and he fell backwards onto the floor, hitting his head pretty hard. He groaned at the pain.

"C- Crap," he said. He hit his head pretty hard, but he wasn't knocked out, so he was fine. But, then his dream from so long ago flashed through his head. When Luffy'd hit his head on the pavement and died, even though he hadnt passed out. Zoro began to panic. Head injuries were nothing to give a pass to.

But his vision was fine, and blood wasn't coming out of anywhere. But then again, that had been a dream. Might not have even been accurate…?

Sanji and Luffy hurried over to him after hearing the thump and groan of pain.

"Ahre you okay, Zoro?!" Luffy asked panicking. Then he looked at Zoro's foot. It was resting on Luffy's blanket he'd left on the ground. Did Zoro step on that and fall? He gasped. "I sorry! I sorry, I din't mean to!" he cried.

Zoro smiled at him. "It's okay. It was an accident," Zoro said around the pain in the back of his head.

"Don't sit up," Sanji said, calling Nami to come quick. She hurried over to them, asking what had happened. She looked very concerned when she heard Zoro had hit the back of his head. He did what Sanji told him not to do and sat up, saying that he was fine. But the world spun around him and he fell back, throwing up to the side from the overwhelming dizziness. "Ugh…" he moaned, not really caring that he threw up at that moment. He was so dizzy and nauseous.

"Call 911," Sanji told Nami immediately.

"I'm… fine," Zoro said, trying to put on a brave act for Luffy, who was crying loudly near Zoro's feet. He kept crying that he was sorry. It was breaking Zoro's heart.

After Nami called 911, she hurried to Luffy and gave him a hug. She ran her hand down his back. "It was an accident, Luffy. No one blames you. Zoro will be okay," Nami said kindly. "We'll go to the hospital with him, okay?" Luffy nodded, wiping his nose on his shirt's sleeve.

There was a bang on the door and after Nami opened it, EMTs came in with a stretcher. Nami lead them to the kitchen, making sure Luffy was out of the way. Zoro was very gently and slowly lifted from the floor, trying to make him as least uncomfortable as possible. He swore quietly.

Sanji was the one to get in the ambulance with Zoro, while Nami and a hysterical Luffy drove after. Luffy did not want to be separated from Zoro, especially when he was hurt. Though Luffy still blamed himself that it was his fault, he was glad no one else did.

He would soon forget how Zoro had gotten hurt. He hit his head? When?

"This sucks," Zoro mumbled in the ambulance. The jarring of the vehicle hurt his head more. He wished he was laying on his stomach so the back of his head had no pressure against it, but he said nothing. "I hope - Luffy's okay."

"Well, he's most likely hysterical, but you two will see each other again, hopefully soon." Then Sanji sighed. "For once, I want him to forget something." Zoro would have nodded in agreement, but he didn't feel like throwing up again. Oh god, and that sick in the kitchen wasn't gonna be cleaned up for a while. Crap.

When they arrived at the hospital, Zoro's stretcher was taken out of the ambulance and rolled into the building to the emergency room, Sanji following after.

The lights above Zoro were hurting his eyes, so he put his hand up to block it. He quickly was seen, since a head injury can get bad quickly and suddenly. Zoro felt so awful when he was turned around to look at the back of his head. He had trouble talking through the pain, but explained where it hurt, and what had happened. But he kept getting distracted from thinking about Luffy, and how scared and upset he must be.

The doctor assumed the distraction was from his head injury, but Zoro corrected that. He was distracted because his brother was probably very scared and upset. He tried to clear his mind and focus on his own problem, but it was hard.

Apparently, the doctor found some blood on the back of Zoro's head, and quickly had him taken to get an x-ray on his skull. To Zoro, this whole thing was just inconvenient.

After the x-ray, it was known that Zoro had cracked his skull. The doctor said that it would heal just fine and he'd be okay, since it didn't hurt his brain directly. Zoro was not happy when he had to have a small section of his hair shaved off to fix the crack. Oh well, at least he didn't know anyone who'd tease him. Not that he'd put up with that crap if someone did.

Luffy and Nami entered the waiting room, Nami holding Luffy, who was still crying. He didn't want to be there, but he wanted to see Zoro. Nami went to the front desk and asked the receptionist whether she could see a patient admitted not long ago.

"He's currently being seen, so you will have to wait," the woman said, looking at Luffy in sympathy. She'd seen enough nervous or afraid family members that she could tell Luffy was scared.

The little boy cried louder when he heard that they both had to wait. Others in the waiting room looked at Luffy, probably seeing him as a three year old since that was his size. A baby crying. But his cries set off other young children's cries and soon the whole room was filled with both loud and quiet crying.

"Shh, Luffy," Nami said gently, running her hand through his hair. "Zoro's gonna be okay. Everything is gonna be okay. We can see him in a little while, but for now, you have to be a big boy. You are a big boy afterall. I'm sure you can make it through this. Right?" Luffy's cries quieted and he was now sniffling with short sobs coming out semi-frequently.

"Zoro will be so proud of you calming down. I'm sure he will. We just have to be patient, okay? Being upset will not get us seeing Zoro faster."

Luffy nodded, still sniffling frequently, but he wasn't sobbing. His lower lip wobbled, but no cries came out. He kept his face buried in his mommy's chest, so he didn't see all of the other big people. There were too many, and it was too loud in there. So much noise and chatter that it scared him. He hated going places other than the physical therapist and Usopp's house.

It was around forty five minutes that the mother and son were called in. Luffy told Nami to "hurry, hurry!" as they went to the room Zoro was in. They first saw Sanji sitting by the bed, and Zoro laying down, looking highly irritated. He didn't raise his head to see Luffy because that would hurt, but instead he heard Luffy cry, "ZORO!" loudly. Zoro was glad that the loud noise of that shout and the blubbering that came afterwards didn't hurt his head. He put the bed next to him and very slowly scooched over to make room while the five year old got onto his hospital bed with help from Sanji.

"Careful not to move the bed, Luffy. Zoro's head is a little sensitive to movement," Sanji told Luffy calmly. Luffy nodded and very carefully and slowly crawled the few inches to lay next to Zoro and hug him.

"Do you hurt?" Luffy asked with worry. His eyes were really wide and his frown very deep.

"I'm feeling better now. It didn't feel good a little while ago but a big brother has to be strong for his little. So I'm okay, and I'm glad you're here," Zoro said kindly. Luffy still looked at him in worry. "I promise that I'm fine and am gonna be fine." Luffy held up his pinky, and Zoro joined it with him.

Luffy cuddled with Zoro for a little while while Sanji and Nami were figuring out arrangements for that night since Zoro was going to leave the hospital in the morning, since it was getting late and he still wasn't up to going at the moment. No one wanted to tell Luffy that Zoro couldn't sleep with him. It had been a little while ago that he had his meltdown, but they knew he'd most likely still not want to part from his brother.

Finally, when Luffy was becoming very sleepy, Zoro told him the bad news. "Luffy, you have to go home tonight without me. Then we can see each other in the morning when I come home." They all looked startled when Luffy looked angry, not sad.

"No!" he said defiantly. The other three were shocked. Luffy was very well behaved and usually did what was asked of him. "I not leaving!" and he grabbed onto Zoro like he was drowning and Zoro was the only thing keeping him above the water.

"Luffy," Zoro said sternly. "You're gonna have to go home tonight, and sleep with mommy instead of me." Then his voice softened. "You can watch the stars from the big bed with mommy if you want." But Luffy just held on tighter.

"No!" he cried again. He buried his face in Zoro's sheets.

"Luffy, you have to listen to us and do what mommy and daddy say. You have to be a big boy tonight. Okay? There's no other option than to have you go home and me stay. You want me to get better right?" Luffy nodded. "Then you have to go home."

"But I don' wanna!" Zoro, for once, had no idea what to do. Luffy had never argued with Zoro or their parents. He looked to Nami and Sanji with a questioning look. None of them wanted to hurt Luffy's feelings, but he couldn't be acting like this with the notion that it was okay. They hoped this was a one time incident, because they couldn't imagine a badly behaved Luffy.

"I know you don't want to, but you have to. I'm going to stay, and you are going to go home." Luffy's face scrunched up in anger and sadness.

"I sleep under cofers wif you and no one will know!" Luffy said, trying to crawl under the sheets he was sitting on.

"That won't work, Luffy. Now, be a good boy and do what we say tonight. Okay? Children have to listen to their mommy and daddy because they know what's best for them. And what's best for us, is for you to go home, and me to stay and heal my head over the night. You'll spend most of the time asleep, and then can come get me in the morning," Zoro finished with a stern, yet kind voice.

"I promise that I will be safe and get better here overnight. Understand?" Zoro asked. Luffy, still frowning deeply, finally agreed, though he gave Zoro the biggest and the tightest hug Luffy had ever given, which was saying a lot.

"You get better!" Luffy told him sternly.

"Yes sir," Zoro said with a smile.

Sanji stayed with Zoro overnight while Nami took Luffy home. She made them both simple sandwiches for dinner since they hadnt gotten anything from the hospital. It was quiet save for Luffy's occasional sniffles. But he had to be a big boy, like Zoro said. And he was a big boy! He turned five and so he has to act like a big boy, though he was far from happy with the outcome of Zoro falling.

Nami had cleaned the floor, with a mask on because it smelled so bad. But she wouldn't say anything to Zoro about it. He'd probably be very embarrassed. Luffy worried, and so did Nami. But she trusted her husband to take care of their oldest, and if something bad happened, he'd do the right thing, whatever that would be.

Bedtime came and Luffy laid next to Nami on the big bed. He was very small on the big mattress, and when he curled up, he looked like the size of a small dog. Nami had turned the stars on, but Luffy couldn't sleep, and wanted Zoro.

"Luffy," Nami said in a quiet voice. "The sooner we go to sleep, the sooner we can go see Zoro. Just for tonight, you have to sleep with me. Then you can go back to sleeping with Zoro."

Luffy pouted and nodded, turning on his side to look at mommy. He didn't want his and Zoro's song to play, and Nami knew that, so she started singing a lullaby. Even though Luffy wasn't a baby, she sang  _Rock-a-Bye Baby._

_Rock-a-bye, baby_

_On the treetop_

_When the wind blows_

_The cradle will rock_

_If the bough breaks_

_The cradle will fall_

_But mama will catch you_

_Cradle and all_

_Baby is drowsing_

_Cozy and fair_

_Mother sits near_

_In her rocking chair_

_Forward and back_

_The cradle she swings_

_And though baby sleeps_

_He hears what she sings_

_Hush a bye baby_

_Up in the sky_

_On a soft cloud_

_it's easy to fly_

_Angels keep watch_

_Over as you sleep_

_So hush a bye baby_

_Don't make a peep_

_Rock a bye baby_

_Do not you fear_

_Never mind baby_

_Mother is near_

_Wee little fingers_

_Eyes are shut tight_

_Now sound asleep_

_Until morning light..._

It was a miracle that she was able to get Luffy to sleep after only singing it three times through. Nami turned off the star projector, getting annoyed by the whirring sound, and pulled Luffy's blanket higher so he wouldn't get cold. Then she slept the whole night with him, finally sleeping with her baby boy.

Luffy woke up before Nami and was confused by his surroundings for a moment, before remembering that he had to sleep with mommy last night. He wanted to see Zoro!

"Mommy, mommy. We haf to go and see Zoro!" Luffy said to her loudly, smaller hands shaking her shoulder.

Nami woke up and with Luffy hounding her about visiting Zoro, she threw on a random outfit and Luffy as well. They were out of the house in less than fifteen minutes, heading on their way to the hospital. Nami wondered if he or her husband were even awake, since it was eight in the morning.

Luffy recited the words "hurry" over and over in the back seat in his carseat. "I'm going as fast as I can, Luffy," Nami said patiently. Luffy continued his chant, though it was quieter now. He wasn't even afraid when they got out of the car and hurried towards the huge hospital building. Luffy was hanging onto Nami's pants as they walked, since Nami was too tall to reach his hand.

The little boy was better at walking on his own now, but it was an ingrained habit to walk while holding onto something or someone. He was more like dragging Nami by her pants than walking with her for stability. There werent many people in the waiting room, so it was quick for Nami and Luffy to get to the secretary and got to ok to go and see their family members.

Nami had to walk quickly to keep with Luffy's running to the elevator and to his big brother and daddy. When they got onto Zoro's floor, Luffy ran as best as he could down the hall to where he remembered Zoro's room was. He stumbled once, but was able to straighten himself up when he put both arms out to the side to balance. Until then, he hadnt really realized that he was able to walk better since Zoro wasn't there to automatically hang on to.

He ran through the open door, shouting "Zoro!" as he ran to the bed, trying to climb up. Zoro grinned when he saw his baby brother, but had Sanji pick him up since Zoro wasn't supposed to move too much. He had a mild concussion, but could go home today. Thank goodness or Luffy would have been devastated again.

"Hi, Luffy. How did sleeping with mommy go?" Zoro asked as Luffy crawled into his lap. Nami entered the room and sat on her husband's lap since there was no other chair for her yet.

"I like sleep wif you more, but mommy sing to me an it was nice," Luffy said cheerfully. Zoro smiled, looking over to Nami, who looked like she had happy tears in her eyes. "I miss you, dough," Luffy added.

"I missed you, too. How was sleeping on the big bed?" the older child asked. Luffy answered that it was okay. He didn't hate it or love it. It was just very different, and it was strange to have so much room, even though mommy was on the bed with him, too.

"My bed was lonely without a snuggle buddy," Zoro complained, earning a giggle. He was called a snuggle buddy. "I'm supposed to come home today, but I have to be very gentle with my head, since it still hurts a bit."

The doctor had known the family before since they'd come in multiple times and it wasn't hard to remember Luffy after what happened with his last visit. She was very nice about letting Zoro go but to be careful and make sure to take his medication as prescribed to let it heal.

Zoro held Luffy as they walked back to the car, who was wrapped around his brother. He really missed Zoro and was so happy he was coming home, and that daddy would make yummy food again. Sanji was pleased with Luffy telling him his food was better than hopsitle food, and that he really wanted some orange chicken, which Sanji was perfectly happy to fulfil his request.

After they all settled at home for awhile, Luffy approached Nami, for once not needing to hold onto Zoro's hand, since he found out he could walk himself. Though he still liked holding his brother's hand.

"Mommy, c'n we haf a nap sometimes?" Luffy questioned. "Da big bed? An you sing?" Nami smiled brightly at him, and crouched down to hug him.

" _Of course,"_  she said with light tears in her eyes. "We can take a nap anytime you want to." Sanji and Zoro watched the scene with their own smiles. "Do you want to take one now?" Luffy nodded and grabbed onto her pant leg as they walked back to the master bedroom.

With Nami singing and rubbing Luffy's back, the boy fell asleep easily. Nami didn't, but just looked at him with love. Hopefully, he would finally go back to how he had been when they'd first met. Luffy had changed a lot since then, and his clinginess had faded, much to Nami's disappointment and despair.

Luffy woke up, and Nami quickly closed her eyes so it seemed like she had fallen asleep, too. He patted her face gently, saying he could smell dinner, and right after that, Sanji came in after opening the door quietly in case they were both sleeping, and told the two that the feast was done.

Luffy got off the bed and hurried down the hall, holding onto the railing, cheering to Zoro that dinner was ready. Sanji smiled to his wife and gave her a big hug, while she had watery eyes. "I love you," Sanji said quietly. "I love our family."

Nami hugged his tighter. "I love you, too. And our babies."

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**Awww... Review please!**


	16. Growth and Change

**Well, here it is. We have come to the end. Makes me sad, I got a lot of really nice and constructive reviews on this one. I'm glad so many people liked it and I didn't get one troll telling me my facts were wrong, lol. There is one more little snippet after this chapter, but it's more to address something I hadn't thought about when writing: Garp and Luffy. I just left things with them hanging, so I wrote an after thought kind of chapter.**

**Thank you everyone who supported the story and my regular reviewers, you are treasured. I still am posting the next installment of Sons of Beasts, which just started and I finished editing my Whole Cake Island arc fanfic, so that's all ready. I have so many ideas but some just are duds and go nowhere. I'm not lying when I say I have over 202 unfinished fanfictions. And 36 finished ones. -_-**

**Enjoy~**

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"Usopp, do you want to play wif da cars? I brought a map for us to drife on," Luffy said energetically as he wandered to the family room with his best friend.

"Sure! I also have some cookies mommy made that we can eat," the other replied with a grin, running to their space full of toys. Luffy looked to the side, seeing something he'd never noticed before. He recognized it from his own home. On the doorway was markings of Usopp's growth. Suddenly, Luffy looked confused. Usopp's marks were a lot higher than Luffy's. He stared at it with a frown, and then looked to Usopp across the room.

He was still a lot smaller, wasn't he? He walked up to the doorway and stood against it, facing it. He put his hand on his head to measure himself like mommy and daddy did. Though it was a bit off, Usopp was quite taller than him.

"Are you coming, Luffy?" Usopp called, getting his cars ready to play with. Luffy hurried over and went to play. Usopp noticed the little one staring at him throughout their play date. "Are you okay?" he asked his little cousin.

"Usopp, why are you bigger dan me? I a lot smaller, aren't I?" Luffy asked with a sad face and even sadder voice. Usopp didn't know how to reply. Luffy had always been smaller than Usopp. Was he just now noticing?

"I- I don't know. Maybe I'm just taller?" Usopp offered, not wanting to hurt Luffy's feelings since he already looked really sad.

"Oh…" Luffy mumbled, before they went back to playing with their cars, and then drawing at their little plastic table, though Luffy was quiet and distracted for much of it. Zoro watched this, though he didn't hear what initially Luffy said while sad. He had noticed the boy when he was at the doorway. And it worried Zoro.

After having a lunch of sandwiches and grapes, Luffy went home with his family, after he patted Sanji's leg and said, "Daddy, when will I get bigger? Why I smaller? I want to get bigger like Usopp."

Sanji had looked at him in a pained way, before crouching down and saying, "We'll figure something out. Promise," and joined pinkies with his son. He gave him a hug, feeling bad for the boy. Nami saw this once she was done putting together everything they had brought, like Luffy's bag of toys he brought everywhere.

When the family got home, Luffy went to the bean bag chair to take a nap, this time wanting one with Zoro. Sanji pulled Nami away and to the kitchen table. He told her about what Luffy had said to him.

"Nami, I want us to try the growth hormones," Sanji said seriously. Nami looked serious, and nodded. They had both been thinking about it for awhile, but would rather not if they could. But, with Luffy practically not growing at all, maybe it really was time to take more action. Especially if Luffy was becoming self-conscious about it.

"Alright."

When the parents told Zoro about their plan, he agreed after reading up about it. With all of Luffy's other problems, and that he might develop more, they at least wanted to try and fix this one. Sanji and Nami had the money to do this, and their insurance would pay for much of it as well.

After Luffy woke from his nap and walked to the kitchen table, blanket around him, he asked for some juice. When he got his little sippy cup of apple juice, the three lead the boy to the living room and sat on the floor and couch together.

"Luffy, we want to try something to help you grow. Like you are better at walking since the helper games, we want to try something new to help you grow bigger. You want to be bigger, right?" Sanji asked, earning a quick nod from the youngest. "It might be scary at first, but it's just like the other medicines you take, just in a different form."

"Yah! It will help me be bigger?" Luffy asked in an excited voice. "Like Usopp?"

Zoro spoke next. "It will take time, but yes, you will grow like Usopp. You might still be smaller than him, but you will be getting taller. You'll become a big boy on the outside, since you already are one on the inside after all." Luffy grinned.

"Okay, I will try it!"

"Good boy," Nami praised.

Two months later, Luffy sat at the doctor's, in a childrens' hospital. He liked this place more than the hospital. It was colorful, and there were lots of little boys and girls to say hi to. Nami had told him to not ask about what they looked like. Not to ask why some were in a wheelchair, missing limbs, or were bald. Luffy behaved well, and did as mommy said not to.

Luffy had gotten shots before, when he was fully stimulated with something else, but when he saw how tiny the needle was, he wasn't afraid. After all, his family wouldn't let him get hurt. So, he sat in a chair, waiting for his magic growing juice to come. He was excited to get bigger!

The shot didn't hurt, and he was gripping Zoro's hand, with Nami rubbing his scalp gently, to distract him.

"There we go, all done! Great job, Luffy," the doctor said to him with a warm smile. "It might take awhile for you to get bigger, but don't worry. You're only five, and have lots of time to grow," the woman said before giving the family a manual on how to inject, though they'd been taught as the woman had done it. Zoro was even taught, as he was twelve now and could definitely do it himself.

They were given a large quantity of the grown hormones, which they needed to keep in a cool place. Luffy was given a lolly pop and Spongebob bandaid. He looked at the fish on the walls while the adults talked, with Zoro listening.

Nami grinned, so happy they could finally do something to help Luffy in this way. He was truly coming along, and none of them could be happier. He was able to walk longer distances by himself without stopping for a break, and his hands shook less, so he was neater with his eating. He still had some speech problems, but that would take time to fix, since it was from both his disability and medication, which they had not changed, as it was working to stop the seizures.

On their way home, they stopped at the grocery store, Sanji getting some ingredients for a celebration dinner. The brothers and their mother were listening to Christmas music, even though it hadnt even passed Thanksgiving. Luffy hummed along with the music, excited for another Christmas.

When the family got home, Luffy took a nap, like usual. It was nice, but also not nice, that he had been able to control his hyperactivity after awhile. It had been so cute, but also dangerous, as he had fallen multiple times when confined in the living room, even though the had changed out the wooden coffee table and had one of their leather ones that had storage inside.

Zoro was secretly a bit bummed that Luffy didn't need to hold his hand everywhere any more, though he knew that was a selfish thought. Luffy still clung to him, sitting in his lap and asking to be read picture books, along with still sleeping in the same bed.

When Luffy woke, Zoro was next to him, and suddenly, Luffy exclaimed, "I want to watch da Lion King!" It startled Zoro, who gave a childish "Eep!" in surprise, earning a chuckle from Sanji, which made Zoro's cheeks pink and him scowl.

"How about we watch it after dinner, Luffy? All together," Nami suggested. They hadnt watched it in awhile. Luffy nodded and rushed to the kitchen to see Sanji's cooking. Nami lifted him up to the barstool with side rests on it so there was no risk of him falling over. Zoro and Luffy sometimes just sat and watched Sanji cook. He was so smooth with it, and Nami always said that it was his cooking that really attracted her to him at first.

The feast was delicious, with chicken stir fry and teriyaki rice with some side vegetables for the boys. The four talked about random things, while Luffy kept coming back to the topic of him getting bigger, and needing new clothes. He couldn't wait to be a big boy on the outside.

"Luffy! You grew a whole inch!" Nami cheered, lifting him up and twirling him around. He was still very small, but he'd already needed new shoes and his shirts were a bit tight since he'd gained five pounds. The growth hormones were working like a charm, and they had gotten some medication to counter the headaches that came with them.

Luffy cheered loudly, calling to the others that he'd grown "a inch!". Zoro ran over from the couch and hugged him once he was set down.

"Well, this means a celebration! Want to have Usopp come over, and we can have a pizza night?" Sanji asked with a grin, now the one hugging his little son. Luffy cheered "Yah! Usopp will be impessed!"

It had only been three months and he was growing at a quick rate. The doorway had tons of tiny marks close together to document his grown every week. Luffy couldn't be happier, and he felt more confident now. He had gone on playdates with Usopp and his friends together, long after the first time he met them.

Even though he was still the smallest, he was becoming a true big boy on the outside, too. Plus, he could play more with them now that he had better balance, and though he still had speech problems, he could carry on better conversations.

Vivi had taken Nami's advice and started Coby on growth hormones. He had more side effects, and sadly needed to stop and couldn't take anymore. So he'd grow up normally, as normal as he could.

Three more months later, and Luffy had grown another inch. His sixth birthday was the biggest celebration since he'd met his parents. He had Usopp and his friends come to a bounce house place that they booked just for their party. There were only seven kids, so there was lots of room to play. Coby was too shy to come, and stayed home. Luffy had invited him, but Coby didn't know any of the kids, so he declined.

The noise of the kids playing didn't bother Luffy, since they were his friends. And now, with Luffy being more independent, though he still favored his brother over everyone, Zoro had time to himself. And when one of Luffy's new friends' brother came to the party to be emotional support since the boy wasn't feeling very good, Zoro actually made a friend his own age.

It was new and completely foreign, and he hadnt ever really wanted or felt he needed any friends. After all, Luffy had been his whole life for as long as he could really remember crystal clearly, so he really didn't see a point in having friends. It was a wake up call to have someone to do the same things with. He realized what he'd been missing.

Of course, he made sure the young teen was kind and good to Luffy. The little boy sometimes barged into their room when Zoro was in there with his friend, asking if he could play on the TV with them. Zoro appreciated that his friend, Law, was understanding with Luffy's problems. And he never made fun of Zoro still sleeping in the same bed as Luffy, though now it was a bigger bed.

And when Law spent the night, he used the top bunk which had never been used. He really was a good friend, even if he seemed to always be exhausted and was addicted to coffee.

Since Luffy was born, till he aged to almost four, Zoro had never thought he could live anything close to a normal life. That he would never have friends, and would never grow or learn to speak or go out in public. But he'd been wrong. And he couldn't be happier about it.

Luffy was not going to live a completely normal life, and that was okay, for all of them. They would do right by Luffy and help him as much as he needed to make him happy, and to not think of himself as wrong, or weird, or anything negatively. He was Luffy, and no one wanted him any different.

He was, and always would be, their ball of sunshine.

The End~

**I gave Zoro a friend! Were you surprised who it was? I can just see them being sarcastic besties. Thanks for sticking with the story!**


	17. Rekindling With Garp

  
  
  


**REKINDLING WITH GARP**

 

Seven year old Luffy sat at the dining table, grinning while everyone sang to him. It was his seventh birthday. He was told that he’d be meeting someone he hadnt seen in a long while. Luffy didn’t know who it was by name. He could barely remember the second grandpa that he had had such a bad first impression of. 

 

Zoro was sitting next to Luffy. It was strange that he didn’t have to watch for Luffy leaning too far forwards and falling into the cake. His progress was jarring for the young teen. But, it had been going slowly and Luffy was becoming --very slowly-- more independent. 

 

He wasn’t worried about Luffy’s safety that day. Only how he would react with Garp. Zoro had been taken aside earlier and was introduced to Garp formally, since they’d never even officially met before Zoro had had to “rescue” Luffy from the large man.

 

The green haired teen was in no way fond of Garp, but he did want the man to at least have a small shot with his grandson. Zoro had always been with Luffy in their room once Garp came for Christmas’s. After Zoro and Luffy went to bed, Garp would come to socialize with his other family, who could handle his presence perfectly fine. 

 

Today, on his birthday, Luffy would be finally re-introduced to the big man. His step-grandpa. Nami and Sanji looked a bit nervous, but trusted that Luffy had matured enough to handle one, maybe brief, contact with the old man. 

 

When all of Luffy’s presents were opened and broken in, him immediately playing with Usopp, Garp came in. Luffy was startled by his presence, not knowing who he was. Garp followed Nami’s lead and headed into the living room, where the three children had been sitting. Zoro eyed the newcomer skeptically. No matter what, Zoro would never forget how terrified this man had made tiny Luffy.

 

“Luffy, this is grandpa Garp. He’s my step-dad,” Nami introduced. Luffy looked up at Garp blankly, wondering why he’d never met this man before. He was a grandpa, right? Garp was very big, but Luffy wouldnt be intimidated! He was a big boy, he’d grown bigger. Not as tall as Usopp, but he wasn’t tiny anymore.

 

“Hello, Luffy,” Garp said calmly. Nami and Sanji were smiling, impressed and surprised that Garp was actually being calm and quiet. Well, he had been wanting to meet with Luffy since Nami told him about the boy. They had just been, maybe overly, cautious. They had only one second shot at this, and it had been long enough since that day that Luffy didn’t remember Garp. 

 

The man had been waiting for a long time, so he wasn’t going to mess this up. It wasn’t an option! “My name is grandpa Garp. Your second grandpa,” Garp explained calmly. 

 

“Daddy’s daddy?” Luffy asked, wondering why Daddy’s daddy was there, since they never talked about his side of the family. Luffy had no idea who Sanji’s family was or what kind of people they were. They just werent there. It was what was and always had been. 

 

“No, I’m Mommy’s second father,” Garp replied. 

 

“Oh. Is nice to meet you,” Luffy said and stuck his hand out. He was still much smaller than Garp, but he wasn’t scared of him. Big, yes, but Luffy could handle it. Garp took his smaller hand and shook it. “Do you wanna watch the movie with us?” 

 

The group would be watching  _ Toy Story 3  _ together. Luffy liked more movies than just  _ The Lion King _ now, but it would still always be his favorite, and he’d watch it countless more times. But this time, they were watching another movie. 

 

“I’d love to!” Garp said loudly, happy his grandson finally wasn’t afraid of him. He’d missed out on a long time, but he’d make up for it from now on. Luffy looked a little surprised by the sharply raised voice, but didn’t cower or run. 

 

This grandpa seemed like a noisy one.

 


End file.
